Parenthood
by MelinaEugenia
Summary: Though it may not have been through natural causes, Raphael is still a father and he loves his daughter more than anything else in this world. So when a certain Renet Tilley brings them to a much unwelcoming future, Raphael and his brothers must fight an enemie his own worst nightmares wouldn't prepare for him - and to see her fight with the one enemie who started it all...
1. Chapter 1

**TMNT 2012**

 **The experiment**

They had been fooled, big time! For the very first time the Kraang managed to fool them into a very unpredicted and great trap. Now, they're stuck. However, Donnie have been successful in planning an escape, but they never really had the opportunity to actually escape. The Kraang putted them in cages that's been specially designed for the turtles and now they're being brought into a different room. The leader of the Kraang, the one who used to be April's friend Irma, is in the lead of them. He tells the Kraangdroids to do some sort of preparations that doesn't seem to make any sense. Then suddenly, a great machine appears in the room. It almost look like a transporter of some kind, but when the Kraang talks about the experiment, they sort of get the feeling that it's not.

"Hey, Donnie!" Raph suddenly whisper from behind. "How's the escape plan going?"

"I'm working the best I can!"

The three brothers watch as the smart one inspects every single corner of the cage, making sure he doesn't miss anything. The Kraang seems to be far too busy preparing for the experiment of theirs to notice.

"Got it!" Donnie says with a smile.

All the others can do is to observe as he does something to the cage and then the door opens. They all cheers in their minds, but it's still loud enough for the Irmadroid to hear them. As he turns around Donnie has already started to free Leo and Mikey.

"Stop them!" He yells and the Kraangdroids stops everything they're doing in order to follow the order.

Leo and Mikey does everything they can in order to defeat and distract them from seeing Donnie working on Raph's cage. Trying to focus while Raph is growling at him to work faster is not as easy as you might think, and it just happens to take too long for him. Suddenly Raph's cage starts flowing in the air before Donnie managed to free him. They all gasps in horror when they see what's going on, but then it becomes very clear. The Irmadraoid has gotten his hands over some sort of control and is ordering the cage to fly towards the machine.

"This time we won't fail!" The droid shouts.

"We'll see about that!" Raph shouts bask as he tries to throw his sai at the droid, but fails. The droid only laughs at his failed attempt and puts him in the machine.

"Start the experiment!" He shouts and one Kraang presses a button.

The machine is starting to load up and Raph is still stuck in it. He tries his best to break the giant glass jar he's in, but he just can't, and now the machine is moving some wheels, which makes him feel very uneasy about everything. He's about to shout something to his brother's when suddenly a strong light appears in the glass jar and all he can feel is pain. He screams in horror and then there's silence. Felling how every cell in their bodies freezes at the sight of their brother laying unconscious at the bottom of the jar, the brothers stops fighting for a second only to stare at what they believe is a corp. But then, when they see a small yet fast and terrifying needle coming from the machine, they run up to their brother. The needle is forcing its way through the shell and into his body, pumping some green liquid - not mutagen however - into his body. Only when it runs out of green liquid, the needle gets out from his body and disappears into the machine again.

"Fabulous!" The Irmadroid laughs. "Now, get the other ones to!"

It sure took some time, but they finally managed to get out of there with Raphael safe and sound. Well, as safe and sound he could be at the moment. Whatever they did to him it sure managed to knock him straight out. As they returned home their sensei did the healing hands on his son, but to no use. He didn't wake up. After some discussions and after Donnie had been doing some tests on him, they decided to let him sleep. The next morning he woke up as usual, and listened to everything his brothers told him - except Mikey - trying to understand what happened to him last night.

"So, after I was knocked out they put some green liquid in my body?" He says.

"Yes, but-"

"Well what are you waiting for?! Get it the shell out of me!"

"Raph!" Donnie says a little louder than before. " I did every single kind of test on you and nothing showed any kind of damage. Still, since it's the Kraang, I will have to check up on you every single day for the next couple of weeks."

He did seem to be quite pleased with that answer, but they could still sense the tension in the room. If it was something Raph didn't like it was to not understand something. But he also hated to learn something he claimed to understand. Donnie only sighed as he left the kitchen and entered his lab. As promised Raph followed him closely, still quite upset over the situation. He wanted it to be done with right now and to never have to come in here again, unless he wants to.

"Anything?" He asks as Donnie checks the machines in his lab.

"No, because I haven't started to test yet."

"Well then, hurry up!"

"Okay, now say 'A'."

Raph stares at the small wooden stick Donnie has in his hand before opening his mouth and making the 'aah' sound you do when you visit the doctor. Donnie looks at the tongue, the teeth and pretty much everything there is to check in the mouth. He then checks the blood pressure, takes some blood tests and even urine tests. After three hours of testing (give or take, given who you're asking), Donnie is finally finished with the tests, and just like before, they're completely normal. Raph only sighs and throws his hands up in the air after hearing the results and how Donnie tells him to come back the next day for the very same tests.

"Geez, if it keeps going like this I don't think I can take it." He sighs as he sits down on the couch.

"Don't worry Raph." Leo says with a smile. "If there's something wrong with you, then Donnie is the one who will find out. Besides, it might be good for you."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"Well, it is a great opportunity to practice patience. Don't you think?"

All he gets back is a long deep and dark growl, which only makes him giggle a little, making Raph even more pissed. It doesn't take very long before they're wrestling in the living room, making a huge mess that not even Mikey will be able to make on his own. They only stop when their sensei enter the room, telling them to clean up the mess they have created and to do some extra training.

"Finally!" Raph says. "I've been waiting to some workouts!"

"Not you Raphael!" Splinter says.

"What? Why?"

"As long as you're under medical supervision you're not doing any kind of training before Donatello say that you can!"

Raph thinks about it for a second before groaning loudly about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**TMNT 2012**

 **Strange discoveries**

Raph has been going to Donnie's lab for those tests of his for two weeks. It even got worse after a few days when he discovered an increased amount of female hormones in his system. Not that it was something life threatening, but he did say something about it being worth keeping an eye on. Mikey had asked him by the moment why Raph had female hormones in his system and the answer he got was a little disturbing. Apparently, every man has a certain amount of female hormones and women has a certain amount of male hormones, because they need those hormones to be the gender they are... makes sense...

Anyway, as I said, Raph's amount of female hormones has increased and it doesn't seem to change back. It's still increasing which only makes Donnie more and more concerned that the experiment might have been a gender bender of some kind, but whenever he says it he just throws the idea away himself, saying out loud that even if they all where girls they would still be able to defeat the Kraang, so why even bother? He always end up saying that sometimes the opposite gender hormones can increase by natural causes - such as... as... uh... well... ( _I can't really come up with anything right now, but that doesn't mean it can't happen_ ) - that will go back to normal after a while. The only thing is that it haven't returned to normal for the last couple of days, and it's starting to make Donatello just the slightest worried and concerned.

"How much longer?" Raph says, far too tired to mark his brother at any state.

Donnie stares at the screen of the scanner, trying to make out anything at all. The only times he ignores the screen is when he makes sure his hotheaded brother isn't moving and causing the picture - at the screen - to get blurry.

"Soon." He says. "I hope."

"You know what? I'm done with this!"

Said and done, Raph gets up from the table and starts walking out from the lab when he hear Donnie hurry after him. He prepares himself for yet another family battle and isn't very surprised when Donnie starts talking about the hormone level, how it's still increasing and so on just to make him come back without a fight. _Not this time, bro._ Hearing the noises of his sons fighting again in Donatello's lab, Splinter decides to leave the dojo and bring piece back to the lair - again. By pressing the nerves, his sons get's silent very quickly. _Finally, some peace and quiet._

The next morning started just like every morning starts like nowadays. Donnie flies through the door, forces Raph out of bed, forcing him into his lab and then he runs the same schedule of tests 'til he decides it's time for breakfast. Only this time, Donnie is taking very long at the screen to the scanner.

"Hurry up Donnie! I'm starving!" Raph complains when he notices that they have spent far too long at the scanner than Donnie has said they should. "You're breaking the schedule!"

" _Sweet mother of mutation..._ "

Raph stares up at his brother. Did he just say what he think he said?

"Hey! Donnie! What's holding you?"

"What in the shell...?"

He just stares at his brother, blinking twice before sitting up at the table to get a better look at his face, but that only makes Donnie freak out and shouting at him to lay down again.

"Geez Don, what's the matter?"

"I have never seen anything like this before... and so quick!"

Seeing how Donnie's eyes grow bigger and wider for every second, Raph is now really starting to feel uneasy with this situation.

"Okay bro, now you're scaring me!"

They hear how the door to the lab is being forced open and when they look up they see Leo, Mikey and Splinter at the opening. Leo takes one extra glare around in the lab to be sure before walking into the lab and up to his brothers.

"Is there something wrong?" Splinter asks Donnie and stands next to him, at the screen.

"You see that?" Donnie asks and points to a very small and dark spot at the screen, placed directly at Raph's belly. "That wasn't there yesterday, however I did see some traces of something at the very same spot... It can't be a coincident!"

"Is it serious?" Leo asks, standing next to Raph with Mikey.

"I have no idea... but I fear so..."

The worry grows deeper in the family for every day that went on. After every one of Donnie's tests he can only confirm that whatever it is in Raph's belly, it's growing and that the female hormones are still increasing a bit - not as much as they did before though. But what's really gotten the family upset is that Raph has suddenly started to act very suspicious lately. He wakes up every morning feeling nauseous and every now and then he rushes to the bathroom to throw up, especially when Donnie is trying to put the wooden stick in his mouth during his tests. Just like today. He watches him rush out from the lab with both his hands covering his mouth and then, within a minute, they can all hear the sounds of someone being sick in the bathroom.

"Any diagnose yet?" Leo asks as he enters the lab, but all he gets back is a shake on the head.

"Nothing. I can't come up with anything! None of this makes sense!"

They stop talking when Raph walks back into the lab. He sure doesn't look healthy, but nor does he look dying. Donnie's right, this doesn't make any sense! And the only thing they know about this disease is that it comes from the experiment the Kraang did on him... or at least, that's what they believe... are pretty sure of... or so.

"Sorry about that bro..." Raph whispers, holding his left hand over his belly. "It just came so sudden..."

"It's alright." Donnie says and helps him walk up to the surgeon table. "Now, just lay still while I scan you."

Leo is surprised that Raph isn't complaining about those tests anymore. Maybe he's too tired to do so? Or maybe he wants to do those tests, in order to find out what's wrong with him. In either way, it's easier for Donnie to test on him when he's like this - still and calm.

"Huh..." Donnie says after a while. "That's interesting... and _strange_..."

"What is?" Leo asks.

"Take a look at this." Donnie says and turns the screen as much as he can so that Leo can see. "See that?"

Leo stares at the screen, seeing the small spot they discovered a few days ago, and then he sees something else. It's hard to say what it is, but it almost looks like a balloon or something like that, _around_ the spot. He's just about to ask what it is when Donnie moves the scanner so that they can see the more intimate parts of the body.

"Donnie! For Pet's sake!" Leo says and covers his eyes, which makes Raph wake up from his more or less coma state he's in.

"What are you doing, really?" He asks, angry as normal.

"You see that?" Donnie asks and points at the screen.

Leo removes his hands from his face and looks at the thing Donnie's pointing at. _Okay, now that's scary_. He just points at the screen, just like Donnie, waiting for his brain to understand what he's seeing.

"Is that...?" Leo asks as he points at the screen.

"Yes."

"Ew!"

"What is what?!" Raph growls in the background.

Donnie and Leo both stare at Raph for a second before looking at each other, then they both walk up to their brother. Leo is covering his mouth in order to kill the laughter he feels coming, leaving Donnie to do the talking.

"Well, Raph..." He starts. "...do you remember when I had a theory that the Kraang's plan was a gender bender?"

"Yeah?" Raph says, feeling the good old feeling of anger coming back to him. "Get to the point already!"

"Well, you see... it turns out I might have been right about that..."

Raph just stare at his brother, not so sure how to react at the diagnosis he just had. He's turning into a girl?! Impossible! Why would they do that? It's just like Donnie said: it doesn't matter what gender they are, they're still strong enough to defeat the Kraang and the Foot, so why even bother?! But still, if that's what Donnie says is happening to him...

" _What?!_ "


	3. Chapter 3

**TMNT 2012**

 **Symptoms**

All of those strange test results have started to drive Raph crazy, if not the entire lair. It's been just two days since Donnie explained that it seems like Raph is turning into a girl, given how he suddenly has gotten a brand new and different part of his body - a part only girls have. However, he has also explained that, after another test, it doesn't explain what the spot in his belly is, or even why he has it. And another thing it can't explain is why Raph has started to get these strange symptoms. He feels nauseous and throws up every morning and he has started to get all moody - which isn't very surprising given his personality - but it's far too obvious and strong to be normal, even for him.

"Man, I just don't know what's the matter with me anymore!" He says with tears in his eyes.

It is very unusual to see Hamato Raphael cry like that - at all - in front of people or even family. Then, within seconds, he laughs about the same issue he just cried his eyes out over. It has gotten so bad that even Casey has started to joke about Raph having PMS, which only made him cry again, which made April hit Casey with an angry expression on her face(which naturally made Donnie smile on the inside ^.^)

"W-wait, is he...?" Casey stammers when he sees the turtle cry on the couch, covering his face with both his hands.

"Yes, he is." Leo says to him, and then he helpes Donnie to explain what has happened to Raph, what the Kraang has done to him. "So you see, it might just as well be PMS as you say..."

"Sweet mother of mutation..!" April says. "B-but why? Why do they need you to be girls?"

"We don't know."

The day went on, and right before April and Casey was about to leave Mikey told them to taste his latest creation before. _Pizzashake!_ The perfect( _horrible_ ) mixture between Pizza and Milkshake = Pizzashake!

"Wow!" April says, wrecking her brain to figure out what to say so that she won't break his heart. "It looks very... tasty!"

"Yeah..!" Casey continues. "...That!"

"Well, go on and try some!" Mikey smiles. "I guarantee you, it's original!"

"Never doubted that." Casey says and gets another punch from April.

Feeling how he stares at them, waiting for them to taste his cooking, eager to hear what they have to say about it. April looks down the glass she has in her hand, filled with floating pizza, and just feels how her breakfast is preparing a goodbye for her. She's just about to lift the glass to her mouth and force it down when she hear running footsteps coming up from behind.

"Wait!" Raph shouts and forces his way towards Mikey. "What's that smell?!"

"Well, it's my latest invention: Pizzashake."

Raph stares at his brother, his eyes big and wide, as if he's searching for something very important. He looks in the kitchen and then smells in the air, following the smell 'til he stands in front of the glass April holds in her hand. He stares at the floating liquid of disgust and then he stares April in the eyes while standing very close to her. She feels his breaths in her face and waits for whatever is going to happen, to happen.

"Are you going to eat that?" He says without changing the expression in his face.

"Well..."

"Good."

She doesn't manage to react. All she sees is how Raphael is grabbing the glass in her hand and pulls it out of her grip and swallows the floating pizza on the inside. He then gives her the empty glass back before turning towards Casey and takes his glass as well. After eating/drinking the Pizzashake Mikey had given them, Raph turns towards his little brother with puppy eyes.

"Can I get some more?" He asks, making both April, Mikey and Casey react.

"Sure." Mikey says and walks back into the kitchen to make some more. "But I have to be honest with you bro. Didn't expect that response from you."

"You're telling me." Raph says back, puppy eyes gone.

April waits with going home, forcing Casey to leave without her. She just came to think of something right after Raph snatched the Pizzashake from her and Casey. Something very interesting and hopefully impossible... however, given the fact what the Kraang have done to him so far, it might just be possible. She sits down on the couch as she observes the strange symptoms Raph is showing off, catching the attention of Donnie.

"Hey April!" He says and sits down next to her with the same dorky smile of his.

"Hey Donnie."

"W-what are you doing?"

"Just observing Raph's condition and symptoms."

"Oh. But, why?"

"Well, dad is working on the hospital so I figured that he might be able to tell what's happening to him, and if there's a cure of some kind."

"Oh..."

"Are you saying Donnie's wrong?" Mikey suddenly ask from behind, making both of them jump in surprise.

"No, I just... have a funny feeling about this."

"Funny?" Donnie asks.

"Well, not 'funny' funny, just funny as in strange or weird."

"Well, you're welcome to present it to him. We could be using a little help."

"Thanks."

And just like that, Raph disturbs the conversation by running towards the bathroom to throw up just like he always do this time of hour. April writes it down and on her way home she dials her dad and tells him that she's on the way home.

"Oh, and dad, can you help me with something when I come home?"

" _Of course honey. What's the matter?_ "

"Oh, nothing really important, but I could use your help with some strange symptoms."

" _Symptoms?_ "

"Long story."

Raph almost crawls out from the bathroom, forcing his body to get out of the stank and to get some air. He walks into the kitchen and drinks every drop of the Pizzashake Mikey just prepared for him and tells him to make more. All he gets for an answer is a groan. In the meantime, as April has presented the symptoms to her father he has actually burst into laughter. April just stares at him with great wonder in her eyes.

"Dad..?" She asks. "What's so funny about this? He's really sick!"

"Oh no, he's not." he says back, killing the last of laughs. "However, I can understand why you guys didn't see this before. After all, he is a _'he'_."

"What do you mean?"

Raph walks straight into the door to his bedroom. The last case of throwing up really took all of his energy away, and Pizzashake, but it still seems like his stomach wants to empty itself once again. With nothing but a deep sigh he hurries back to the bathroom and feels how the very last of his energy fades away as he bends over. He leans backwards in order to get some air and feels how someone places a hand on his shoulder - Leo.

"Oh, man Leo..." He says. "...I don't know if I can keep up with this..."

"I can see that."

"What the shell did they put in me?!"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out."

"Yeah... sure..."


	4. Chapter 4

**TMNT 2012**

 **Final diagnosis**

"Well..." April says. "...it's good to know he's not turning into a girl, or dying..."

She has just listened to her father telling her what's really going on with Raph, why he's changing the way he is. After taking a look on the symptoms she wrote down just a few hours ago was far enough for him to set the diagnosis - even if he didn't know who those symptoms belonged to at first - and when he found out that it was Raphael's, he burst into laughter. But when he finally calmed down he explained to April that during the time he was captured by the Kraang, they had forced him to build a very suspicious looking machine - the same machine Raph was experimented on in - to fulfill some plan about creating warriors of some kind. Anyway, the machine didn't work the way they wanted it to, because this dimensions laws of physics doesn't cope with the ones in dimension X, so they had to rebuild it a few times until they finally came up with a brand new plan for the machine.

"Male pregnancy." He says, making his daughter's eyes grow even bigger.

"Dad..." She says after a moment of just staring at him. "...you have to tell them. Now!"

She grabs his arm and pulls him all the way back to the lair. Once there, Kirby informs Donatello about this information he granted during his capture. Donnie listens carefully but finds it very hard to believe. If it's true, then he would have figured it out by now, right? Still, whenever he lays his eyes on April, she gives him a look that tells him to reconsider.

"Mr. O'Neil." Donnie eventually says. "With all due respect, can you just answer one question for me?"

"Well, I'll try."

"Even if this is true, how come I didn't figure it out? I mean, I have been testing Raph every day since the experiment. I should have known."

"Can I see your test results?"

Donnie leads him into his lab and shows him everything he has found out by his studying and keeps telling him that everything points out that he's turning into a girl.

"Not entirely." Kirby says. "Only temporarily. Do you see this?"

Donnie follows Kirby's finger to the exact same spot he discovered not too long ago. He's just about to say something when Kirby shows the latest scan picture, the one with the balloon thing around the spot and the added body part Raph has granted.

"It's only there until they have fulfilled their purpose." He says.

"Which are male pregnancy?"

"Yes."

"Can I just repeat my earlier question? How come I didn't figure this out?"

"Denial. That's why. That's the reason to why you couldn't identify this picture of the embryo. Because males aren't supposed to carry embryos. It's so unnatural that it didn't even cross your mind, and that's why you couldn't answer the questions."

Donnie thinks about it, and the more he thinks about it the more he actually starts to believe in it. Kirby takes a deep and calm breath, giving the turtle time to realize what's really going on. He also turns around to see how the rest of the family is doing about this information. He sees the confusion in their eyes and how their sensei has accepted what he said.

"So... after the pregnancy..." Leo stammers. "...he will go back to normal?"

"Yes."

"How come you didn't know this sensei?" Mikey asks out of the blue, forcing all the attention on the giant mutant rat. "I mean, your wife was pregnant and all..."

"It is just like Mr. O'Neil said." Splinter says. "It was so unnatural to me that I denied it, without thinking."

They talk a little longer about the subject, allowing the mutant family to breath out over the final diagnosis. Raphael isn't turning into a girl nor is he dying. But as they breath out in relief of those things, they start thinking about the great responsibility they will face as the baby mutant is born.

"By the way..." Kirby says after a while. "How far is he?"

"Well... I think it's about the start of the third week." Donnie says.

"The first month then. The embryo is still developing. It won't be before the second or possibly the third month that it really starts to grow. At this state he will just be very nauseas every morning."

"If that's true, then he won't believe us no matter what we tell him at first." Leo says.

"Just give him time." April says. "Things like this is hard to take in, even for women."

"How do you know?" Mikey asks.

"Well I..."

"Are you pregnant to?"

The next morning Mikey's cheek is still aching from the slap April gave him yesterday. He still don't understand how it can be offensive to ask a girl if she's pregnant or not, and it sure didn't help when Leo tried to explain for him - it ended with him getting slapped to. However, they're all up preparing their breakfast and preparing themselves for facing the beast that's about to wake up. Raph rolls out of bed, landing on the ice cold floor. He stands up quickly when he feels the cold spread on his back, but as soon as he stands he feels the empty stomach trying to empty itself even more.

"Oh, _shell_..." He groans as he hurries out from his room and to the bathroom.

His brothers and father stand in the kitchen and observes him running to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and then hear him throw up.

"Definitely pregnant." Donnie says, making Leo and Mikey giggle.

When he comes out from the bathroom they stop laughing and tries to think of something to say that will make it easier for him to believe. But then they all decides that the one who will tell him about the coming baby is Donatello. Knowing by instinct what they have decided, he just turn around and stares at them as if he told them 'thanks' while using sarcasm. Raph walks straight passed Donnie as he enters the kitchen and straight up to Mikey.

"Little brother..." He says.

"Raph."

"Pizzashake."

"Coming right up!"

With a big smile Mikey runs around in the kitchen, preparing the Pizzashake his brother wants. In the meantime Donnie starts talking to Raph about his condition, first mentioning the very good new that he's not turning into a girl.

"Great!" Raph says. "Then you might want to tell me why I have these crazy symptoms. Well, spill it. Tell me the bad news."

"The bad news?"

"Yes Donnie, the bad news."

"Well, bad news and bad news, it depends on how you see it really. Some people might say it's a bonus or even great news."

He stares at Raph, realizing who he's talking to and swallows the coming words he was about to say. Clearing his voice and taking a deep breath, he eventually feels brave enough to tell him about the bad news/bonus/great news. ( _It depends on how you see it_ )

"When you had gone to sleep April and Mr. O'Neil came to visit."

"In the middle of the night?"

"Well, yes, April had told him about your... condition and symptoms, hoping he could help us diagnose you for good."

"Okay, and?"

"Aaand..." Donnie says, feeling how useless it is to walk around the subject and decides to jump straight to the point. "You're pregnant."

The silence in the room... so unbearable, and so rudely interrupted by Raphael's loud laughter. They all stare at him as he throws his hands around his stomach and falls to his knees as he laughs. He eventually look up at Donnie, pointing at him with his right hand but doesn't manage to say anything and falls straight back to the ground, punching it with his fist. It takes him a few minutes of laughter before he realizes the seriousness in their faces, if even a little worry. Catching his breath as he gets up from the ground, still smiling and giggling the last of the laughter. Another minute of silence and their seriousness is confirmed.

"What where you saying?" Raph says, not the slightest amused.

"I'm telling you the truth, no matter how impossible it may sound like..."

"Impossible? How about _ridiculous_?"

"Raph, we've checked every kind of symptom and followed the leads wherever they went, and they all points to the same cause: you're carrying a baby."

"Then check it again!"

"Raphael!" Splinter says, ending the discussion for the moment. "Your brother has done everything he's able to do. You should be grateful that he has given you an answer to your questions instead of keeping this information to himself."

Raph stares at their sensei and then he turns around to his brother, still unsure about the 'answer' he got. It just can't be happening! To start with, he's a guy not a girl... but his female hormones has increased lately... but that doesn't mean it's possible! He takes a deep breath and looks at Donnie.

"If that's true, then how come that I don't have a giant baby belly?"

"It's still too early for you to start growing in that way, the baby must develop completely before being able to grow like that."

"And how long until it does?"

"About a month, give or take a few days, or weeks."

Raph shakes his head, throws his hands up in the air and grabs the goblet with Mikey's Pizzashake before leaving the kitchen. He parks at the TV and watches an episode of Super Robo Meca Force Five before heading back to the bathroom. All of a sudden he just had to go, just like yesterday. While he's in the bathroom he flexes his biceps in the mirror, you know, for fun. As he makes a pose he suddenly sees it. Freezing in the pose for a second, he then puts his hands on his belly, rubbing it. Has it actually become a little rounder? Not much, but still noticeable. He rubs it for a while and thinks about what Donnie told him. Is he really... _pregnant_.. _?!_


	5. Chapter 5

**TMNT 2012**

 **Not in balance**

After getting the final diagnosis Raphael doesn't have to get checked by Donnie everyday anymore, only when Donnie thinks it's time for it. He has been so busy preparing his lab for the time when Raph's supposed to give birth and building machines that will help him keep an eye on the babies movement and development as it grows inside him. _Give birth.. HAH! What a joke!_

Raph has just gotten into the shower for the second time today. He's in the second month now and just like Donnie said, the baby has really started to grow. His belly stands out on its own now, not that it's much for a normal human being, but for a mutant turtle who doesn't just have a plastron to keep the belly in place, but who also trains in ninjutsu for every single day(except from this period), then yes, it's noticeable. He sighs at the very thought of it as the water runs down his belly. He finally accepted it and is now actually believing in it - that he is pregnant, no matter how illogical it is. After the shower he measures the size of the belly from how big it was yesterday. Barely any difference, but Donnie said that it will show every week or so.

Leo smiles at him when he walks out from the bathroom, but he only gets ignored. They all know that Raph isn't very keen on the being pregnant thing, ever since he understood that he's not allowed to go out on patrols anymore, not until the baby is born.

"We planned to get some pizza on the way back, want some?" Leo asks.

He sees Raph stop walking and slowly turn around towards him. His eyes are still filled with anger and other feelings that are the result of his instable hormone level.

"Pizzanoodlesoup." He says.

"Wha-?"

"I need pizzanoodlesoup... and Pizzashake... the ones Mikey do."

They watch him walk back to the TV, sitting down on the couch. Donnie has been explaining for some time now that now that Raph's pregnant the baby will make him eat and drink things he usually wouldn't eat, and right after he got the taste for Mikey's Pizzashake, Mikey has now turned into his personal chef. He only eats the food Mikey gives him, nothing else, and that has actually made Mikey feel very good about his cooking skills, even if he knows that it's only during the pregnancy.

"Maybe it's a sign that the baby likes my cooking!" He giggles as they run across the rooftops. "That would be awesome!"

"Yes it would Mikey." Leo says. "But just for now, could you please focus on the patrol?"

"Can do!"

In the meantime, Casey Jones thought it would be a good idea to pay Raphael a visit. After all, April told him about Raph being grounded for the upcoming month, and if he knows Raph right he could use some company - not to mention help. When he reaches the lair he sees Raph sitting at the couch watching the TV.

"Heard you're grounded." He says and throws himself down at the couch. "Also heard why."

"Great..." Raph mumbles, preparing himself for being teased with.

"So, want to tell me how it happened?"

"The Kraang."

Casey looks at Raph as he plans the next thing to say - in order to make some innocent fun of him - when he sees the look in his eyes. _Nothing good can come out of that stare_.

"So, uhm... how far...?"

"Just started the second month."

"And you're still that small?"

Raph turns towards him growling like a dog as if he was about to bite or snap, making Casey move away a little with the hands in front of him. After just a second Raph returns to his spot as if nothing had happened.

"Sorry Raph, just slipped out of me."

Raph doesn't answer him, he just stares at the TV even if the program he watched ended a few minutes ago. He just stares, that's all he's doing. Staring and letting the anger build up inside him. Casey is really doing his best not to do anything that will make him tick off, and when the other guys finally return he just takes a small break. Mikey walks up to his brother with the same old smile of his and tells Raph that he's about to make some pizzanoodlesoup just for him. When he doesn't get an answer he just walk away into the kitchen, leaving Donnie and Leo in the living room with him.

"Raph?" Leo says, but it only makes Raph stand up and walks away. "Wait Raph! What's the matter with you?"

"Let him go Leo." Donnie says, holding him back. "Pregnancy is a very rough time for both the mind and the body. He just needs some time to understand how to deal with this."

"Yes but..."

"His hormone level isn't steady, and that makes his temper even more sensitive than normal. Trust me about this."

Donnie eventually lets go of Leo's shoulder and walks up to the bathroom where Raph is keeping himself isolated. He knows a way to make the hotheaded turtle leave the bathroom, but it still might make him a little pissed to hear his voice. After all of those tests Donnie has run at him it's not so surprising that he gets mad just to hear his voice at this state. Taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the worst, he knocks on the door.

"I'm busy." Raph says.

"I know, but when you're done you'll have to come to my lab."

"And why is that?"

"I have to check that the baby is still okay and all. Just routine as we said."

He hears a loud and deep sigh before a very unjustified 'okay' echoes behind the door. Taking one or two steps backwards he avoids getting the door smashed in his head as Raph opens the door. They stare at each other of what seems like forever before Raph walk straight passed him. Donnie sighs as he sees him walk away. Hopefully the surprise he's been preparing will cheer him up. They walk into the lab and gets into their positions, meaning Donnie stands by the machines and Raph lays down on the table.

"Do you feel any different compared to yesterday?" Donnie asks.

"No."

"Good. Then let's begin."

Raph takes a deep breath as he closes his eyes. He doesn't really have to be awake now when Donnie only checks his belly. He's almost asleep when he feels something cold and sticky land on his plastron. When he opens his eyes all he sees is Donnie leaning over him with some sort of glue bottle in his hands.

"What do you think you're doing?" Raph says.

"Oh, you're awake. Thought you fell asleep."

"Really? What are you doing?"

"Just putting some gel on so I can move the ultrasound machine across your belly."

"Ultrasound? What's that good for?"

"Well, for starters, it will allow us to see your baby."

Raph stares at his brother. He can see the baby with that ultrasound machine of his? H-how long has he had that machine for? Why didn't he say something about this earlier? His thoughts get interrupted as Donnie puts a handle on Raph's belly and then turns toward another screen that shows black and white pictures as it moves. It's hard to see what any of the shadows are supposed to be, but then Donnie stops moving the handle and gasping softly.

"What is it?" Raph ask. "Is something bad? Is it dead?"

Donnie doesn't say anything but points at the screen where a more clear dark shape is pulsing. Raph is trying his best to understand what that thing is, but it's not until Donnie whispers 'there' as he does. Feeling just the slightly lightened as he sees the small shape move in a shaky way Raph just can't help but smile a little. After all, it is his baby he sees.

"Wow..." He says, making Donnie turn towards him.

"Yeah, it's quite a sight, isn't it?"

"What are you two doing in here?" Leo asks as he walk into the lab, closely followed by Mikey.

They walk up to the screen where the ultrasound is showing the baby and just stare at it for a moment or two. They all smile at Raph and Leo even leaves to get sensei so that he may see the baby as well.

"Geez, why don't we just call the Kraang to come and look at the result of their experiment?" Raph says sarcastic.

"Because then they would discover our secret lair..?" Mikey asks as he hands Raph a bowl with pizzanoodlesoup.

For once Raph doesn't smack him in the head for the answer he gave, just because he's bringing the food - and because he's too far away. When their sensei walk into the lab they all smile at him, showing him where the screen is and where the baby is supposed to be. Leo stands next to Raph, petting his head so the hotheaded turtle tries and reach for him, making Donnie telling him to sit still.

Splinter takes a long look at the yet unborn baby and smiles deeply. He never thought he would become a grandfather at this age, and with the situation he's in. Not that his sons are completely hopeless when it comes to romance, just _more or less_ hopeless ( _Given how people in the show reacts on them, not the fan girls in real life_.)


	6. Chapter 6

**TMNT 2012**

 **Growing love**

In the end of the second month, Raph's baby really started to grow. After a few days you could clearly see the round belly from a distance, which made the hardworking hotheaded turtle feel a little uneasy with his figure. Even if he knew that it was all a part of the whole being pregnant thing, he just couldn't help but to feel big - fat - and it didn't matter what the other ones said to comfort him, not even sensei. He just sighs at what they're saying and keeps telling himself that they only say that to make him happy and stuff like that. But in the end, being at this size is still not the worst that could happen.

"I can't believe how much bigger I'm going to get..." Raph sighs. "It's ridiculous! How can anyone do this on purpose?! If I only was able to go to the rooftops..."

Hearing the complains from their brother all days are really starting to get to the guys, but they all know what might happen if they allow him to go to the rooftops. Just think about it! If the Foot or even the Kraang manages to snatch him and then does all kind of crazy experiments on him and the baby! They all share a stare before they sigh in choir, making it hard for April to focus in her training lesson.

"Guys, do you mind?" She says as she giggles.

"Sorry April!" Donnie says.

They leave her in the dojo with sensei, letting her complete the training completely. She walks out to them with quite an aching back. Donnie volunteers to give her a massage before heading out on the patrol, but gets turned down by Leo. He sees the disappointment in his brother's eyes but they don't have a choice. April waves at them as they leave and walks up to the couch to rest her aching muscles.

Raph stares at her as she sits down next to him. She tries to massage her arm muscles, but he can tell she's not doing it right and is only causing herself more pain. He listens to her groaning complains for a minute or so before deciding he should give her a hand with it. After all, he doesn't really have anything else to do right now. He moves closer to her and starts with putting his hands on her shoulder, for the basic massage step. April almost jumps in surprise when she feels two giant hands lay on her shoulders, but as soon as she understand who those hands belongs to, she calms down.

"Relax." He tells her as he starts kneading. "It's just me."

"Sorry, I just wasn't prepared."

Raph doesn't say anything to her. April has turned her back towards him so that it will be easier for him to get to the knots in her shoulders. He presses hard sometimes which makes April hold her breath, but she's still doing everything she can not to scream of the pain.

"There." She hears him say as he suddenly stops.

She looks at him and then moves her arms in a strange way to control that everything is still working as it should, moving the way it should or even at the place they should be. Then she takes a deep breath and leans towards the backrest of the couch, closing her eyes.

"Thanks." She says with a smile. "I didn't know you where good at massage."

"We all are." He says. "When you train ninjutsu more or less everyday in your life you will get aching muscles, and then you have to know how to massage them in the right way."

"That makes sense." April says, but as she sees Raph staring at her she repeats what she just said in a more believable way.

Four days later and Raph is now in his third month of pregnancy. His baby is growing for every day and is now so big that Raph has started to notice in his everyday life. When he sits down at the kitchen table the belly hits the table and when he tries to sleep on his back the pressure forces him to sleep on the side. Donnie has been a clean pain in the shell in this period, constantly reminding Raph to be careful when he moves around and tries to sleep, that he has to think of the baby's health and so, and it doesn't help to be helpful during the health tests.

"Lay down." Donnie says. "On the side."

Raph feels the anger inside him grow but decides not to let it out this time. _Maybe he'll let me go earlier this time if I cooperate?_ Said and done, Raph lays down on the table on the side, making it easier for Donnie to run the ultrasound on him. They stare at the screen and this time Raph can see the baby much clearer than before. It has stopped developing and is now only growing, and by the looks of it, the baby is a tiny little mutant turtle.

"Can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?" Raph asks.

"I'm sorry Raph, but I don't have any machine that's strong enough to tell that."

"Strong enough?"

"Well, it's very hard to see something through the plastron, not to mention all your muscles. I had to upgrade the ultrasound quite a bit for it to just see this."

"Oh, well that's sort of understandable."

"However, I do have a surprise."

Raph follows Donnie with his eyes until he's no longer in his sight. He disappeared somewhere behind the scanner and it takes him a minute or two to come back. He's pushing yet another machine up towards Raph an cleans the jelly of his belly. ( _Hey! I almost made a rhyme! :D_ )

"What's that?" Raph asks and gets a big grin from Donnie.

"This is a machine that will allow us to hear the babies heartbeats."

Unable to say anything, Raph only stares at his brother as he connects him into the machine. He places a smaller handle on the belly and moves around the handle until they hear something.

 _Thu-thumb, thu-thumb, thu-thumb, thu-thumb, thu-thumb, thu-thumb, thu-thumb..._

Raph just stares at the handle and then at the latest picture of the ultrasound that's still on the screen. He feels how his own heart starts beating along with the baby's, making him a little dizzy yet very happy. After hearing this he doesn't care how big he's going to get, as long as he can remember the sound of his unborn child's heartbeat. _It doesn't matter!_ He places his hands on his belly and feels how a warm feeling starts to spread through his body, tickling in his belly as if the baby was laughing.

During the rest of the third month Raph was a very happy turtle, even if he accidentally smashed into objects. He never blamed the baby belly for anything anymore, not after the great happiness that swept over him after the sounds of the heartbeats. His dreams where always wonderful, and one specific dream kept on coming back to him as he slept.

 _He lays on the floor in the dojo, looking up at the tree that spreads the sunlight coming down from the surface. Running footsteps echoes in the dojo and he smiles. After a second the small turtle tot lands on his plastron with a laughter. Raph smiles at the small turtle, picking it up and holding it over his head. "Hey there lill' fella'!" He smiles as he speaks the words. The baby giggles and screams happily at him. Raph puts the baby back on his plastron and holds his arms around its back, making sure it won't fall of and hurt itself. He never know what gender the baby is, but he doesn't care about that. All he cares about is to have some good quality time with his baby, and he always promises his baby to be the best of all fathers, before waking up._


	7. Chapter 7

**TMNT 2012**

 **Unborn ninja**

All the way through the three first month, the baby rested safe and sound inside Raphael. It didn't make a sound - _of course_ \- or a move, making things very comfortable for Raph, which he's about to realize.

It's the second day of the forth month and Raph's still in bed. His legs, neck and back is aching from the big belly and it's been hard for him to sleep at night. Still, it could be worse. He gets up after nine and prepares some Pizzashake for breakfast - Mikey has been teaching him how to make some on his own since he might want some when they're on a patrol or something. Not to brag, but he's been getting better and better results for every time.

"Good morning!" Mikey shouts when he sees Raph walk into the kitchen.

Raph yawns as he passes his brother and waves back to him as an answer. He walks up to the fridge and takes out everything he needs for making his breakfast. It doesn't take that very long to make, but when you're a hungry pregnant mutant turtle who's waiting for food, every second feels like an hour. _Finally! I'm starving!_ He walks to the kitchen table and sits down on one of the chairs, making sure to leave some room for his baby belly and then he drinks the Pizzashake.

The three brothers train in the dojo while Raph walks out from the kitchen. He can clearly hear the sounds of his brother's as they try to throw each other across the dojo. Sensei sits at the tree as he always does as he observes his sons during the training. He only let them out of his sight when he sees Raphael walk up to him with the big belly of his. It's still very hard for him to understand, that he's about to become a grandfather and Raphael a father. He smiles at his son and receives a smile back. The eager to get back to training glows in his sons eyes, but he still keeps that feeling under control for the sake of the baby. Splinter turns forward for a second when he hears Michelangelo groan loudly and Donnie laugh.

"C'mon you guys!" Raph shouts from his place next to sensei. "Focus!"

"Only if sensei says so!" Mikey laughs.

"Michelangelo."

"Hai, sensei?"

"Focus!"

Mikey smirks back at Splinter and Raph before doing everything he can to focus on the training. Raph observes his brother's movements, feeling how the punches ache in them. His longing to get back into the games makes his heart beat faster and faster even if he's not moving a muscle. Feeling how his heart beats faster makes him want to close his eyes so that he can picture himself in the games, but as soon as he does, he feels it. Splinter turns towards him when he hears a very weak yelp. Raph is holding his hands over his belly as if he was trying to stop it from escaping from him. He lays his hand on his sons shoulder, making him turn towards him as well.

"What is it, my son?" He asks, making sure the others won't hear, not right now.

"I-I don't know..." Raph stammers. "It just felt like... it hurt and moved..."

"I see. Do not threat my son, for that was just the baby moving inside you."

"Felt more like it was punching inside me, or kicking. Does it happen often?"

"It can, depending on the baby. How often has it happened?"

"I've never felt it before. When does it stop?"

"Sometime between the seventh or ninth month, when the baby runs out of room."

"That long, huh?"

"Do not worry my son, it doesn't happen every day."

"You seem to know a lot about those things." They both share a stare for a moment. "Right. Tang-Shen. Got it."

Splinter look forward again and chuckles. For the rest of the day Raph is extremely careful with whatever it is he's doing. His brothers are trying to figure out why he's behaving the way he's doing and in the end he tells them about the movement - or kick/punch if you like.

"Daaawww..." Mikey's voice echoes in the lair. "She's going to be a ninja! Like us!"

"She?" Leo asks and looks surprised at Donnie. "It's a girl?"

"I have no idea. It's too early to tell, if I even can tell."

"Oh, come on you guys!" Mikey smiles. "You don't need to be a scientist to know that it's a girl!"

"Really?" Leo smirks. "So, how do you know?"

"Ninja instinct. I just know."

It's in the middle of the forth month and Raph is sitting on the couch with Mikey resting in his lap, talking to the belly. _Wonder why? Well, I'll tell you._ Just a few minutes ago, Donatello came out from his lab after reading a few pregnancy books and told everyone in the lair - including Casey and April - that talking to the unborn baby will help you create a stronger bond - between you and the baby - since it will recognize your voice once it's born. _And now, here we are_. Raph sitting on the couch with Mikey in his lap, talking to the baby belly about everything. Before they got in this situation Raph complained about this and called it stupid - and he's sticking to that thought - but Donnie had ignored him and walked back to his lab to make a _schedule_ for everyone to know when they should talk to the baby the most.

"And that is how I created Pizzashake, your favorite." Mikey says with a big smile. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you when I created Pizzanoodlesoup! Your second favorite!"

"I think that's quite enough, Mikey." Leo says after seeing the expression on Raph's face. He sure doesn't like this, does he? "Donnie said we all have to talk to the baby."

"Right." Mikey says and turns to the belly one last time. "I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow, lill' _kunoichi_!"

Just as Mikey said that word - kunoichi - the baby moved happily in Raph's belly, and with Mikey right next to the belly, he could clearly see that the belly changed shape. Raph grunted in pain but Mikey flied around in the lair shouting 'It's a girl', completely confident that the baby really is a girl. April had gone after him to make him calm down and then let Leo get his turn to talk to the baby. Before he got in his brother's lap, Raph laid his hand on his shoulder and looked him deep in his eyes.

"Let's _never_ talk about this... _ever_..." Raph says and then he lets go of his shoulder.

"Deal." Leo said, understanding what his brother meant.

He then made his way into Raph's lap and rested his head against his thighs - face pointing up to the ceiling - and then he started talking. After every conversation they had with the baby, the baby started moving happily, causing some pain for daddy Raph to deal with. It went on like this for the entire month! They all talked to the baby which made the baby kick and punch like a maniac - just like her father - causing sometimes great and sometimes gentle pain for dear papa to deal with.

From time to time, Splinter would leave the dojo just to observe the excitement and love his children felt for the baby. He observe as they all rest in his sons lap and talks to the baby, all of the creating a special bond to the baby that will only grow stronger for every day. As he watches all this in front of him, he can't help but smile. Just the feeling that he's about to become a grandfather... after what happened that day, he thought his life was over. But now, look at everything he has gotten. A new life, a father to four wonderful sons and soon a grandfather to a beautiful grandchild. Life just can't get any better than this. But, just as beautiful it is he realizes what it means. It can't get any better than this, which means that things can only get worse, and he fears for what will create the 'worse' moment in their lives, even if he's pretty sure who it will be.

 _...Shredder..._


	8. Chapter 8

**TMNT 2012**

 **Relax! It's just a girl**

Raphael has finally reached the fifth month of his pregnancy, meaning he's now more than halfway there. His belly is still growing and the baby is still very healthy. His body is cramping over the extra weight sometimes and the baby can move a little too much from time to time, but that's okay. That's normal. But even if everything is well and alright with him and his baby, Raph has walked straight into Donnie's lab without having an appointment, first thing in the morning. He's been having nightmares for the last couple of nights, about him not being able to have the baby, that the baby will have to grow and live inside of him for the rest of his life.

"Don't be ridicules." Donnie say. "Of course your baby won't live inside you for your entire life."

"Are you sure, or are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"I'm not sure of it, I _know_ it."

"Meaning..?"

Donnie moans into the air, wondering what really happened to the confident and fearless Raphael. Did he get his brain switched with Mikey or something? After taking a deep breath he eventually turns back to his brother.

"Meaning, I know for a fact that your baby won't live inside of you for your entire life."

"Okay..." Raph says with a weaker voice as he stares at the floor. "But... can I ask you something Donnie?"

"Shoot."

"How will it happen? How am I going to have the baby?"

"Well... pretty much the same way a woman has her baby. When the baby is fully developed and has stopped growing, your body will automatically move the baby down to your abdomen. Once it's there your body will prepare itself to force the baby out through your wrote as you push."

Raph stares at him. It sounds logically, but he still don't understand all of it yet. Maybe he won't understand everything until he has to deliver the baby. That's probably it. But then he sees a kind of stare in Donnie's eyes that he don't like.

"What's the matter?" He asks.

"Hmm..?" Donnie says as he moves his glare onto Raph's worrying face. "It's just that... women look different from men in a certain way that makes it possible for them to have babies. But since you're amount of female hormones is as high as it is, then it shouldn't be a problem..."

"What are you talking about?"

"A third hole."

"What?"

"Every living creature has a wrote. In each of them there are two holes where the feces leave the body."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, females has a third hole in their wrote, where the babies leave the body."

"So?"

"Females are the only ones that has that particularly hole, males don't. You see where I'm going with this?"

"Sort of..."

The conversation died eventually with Donnie bringing Raph to a test/control checkout. By studying the levels of his hormones and just how his inside around and underneath the baby is changing he confirms that everything points to one thing. It haven't started yet, but soon Raphael will have the particularly hole for the baby needs to leave his body.

"So, there we go." Donnie says. "Everything will work out just fine."

"You had to all of those crazy things just to realize that?" Raph says.

"Hey, it's not like I get to examine a fetus every day."

"Sorry."

Well, looks like everything went well - and will - for Raph, even if the control might have been a little humiliating - if the other's would have been in there. Donnie also told Raph that he won't be able to nurse his baby because of the plastron. Even if he grew a bust, the plastron would cover it and not allow the milk to slip through.

"Okay... so what am I going to feed the baby with?"

"I'm not sure yet. But I'm going to start and work on a certain powder milk that the baby can eat."

"How long will that take?"

"A couple of weeks, maybe a few months."

For the next couple of days Donnie works on the special designed powder milk for the baby, trying to make it as tasty and healthy as possible. In the meantime, Raphael are still having some weird dreams about him giving birth to... _kittens_...( _I'm going to be honest with you. The whole dreaming about having kittens thing, I got that from my mom. She dreamed that when she was expecting me. o.O_ ) He always wakes up in the middle of the night, not scared, horrified or terrified, just confused, and whenever he asks Donnie about it he says that it's completely normal.

"Sure don't feel like it." Is all Raph has to say after another one of those answers.

He walks out to the living room where Leo and Mikey are, and he sits down at the couch next to them. His belly is bigger now which makes it harder for him to sit down in a normal way without making grunting like sounds. Mikey lays on the floor and when he hears Raph grunting like that he turns around to make some funny joke of it, but Leo signals him to leave it.

"So, uhm, what did Donnie have to say?" Leo asks.

"About what?" Raph asks back.

"The baby. Is it still healthy?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Did he tell you the gender?"

"Nope."

Mikey turns around now with a big smile. He gets up from the floor and sits down right next to Raph, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I'm telling you, it's a girl." He giggles.

"Mikey, we can't know that for sure. Donnie haven't been able to tell us about it." Leo says.

"Yeah, I know, I know. But that doesn't change the fact there's a tiny little kunoichi in there."

Leo and Raph just watch as Mikey starts tickling the baby belly as he talks baby language with a big smile. Feeling how the laughter is growing inside him, Leo covers his mouth and does everything he can not to burst everything out at once. In that moment Donnie walks out from the lair. He's on his way to the kitchen to get some milk to study on, but the sight on Mikey tickling Raph's belly is so priceless that he stops for a moment. When he sees Leo in the background he feels his laughter build up inside him as well and does everything he can to hold it back, like Leo. Only when those two gets eye contact, they give up the fight and the laughter echoes in the lair.

"Where are you going D?" Mikey asks when the laughter is over.

"The kitchen. I need to create a certain type of powder milk the baby can feed on once it's born, but first I need to study some of the milk we have here."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh. So, do you know that it's girl?"

"No Mikey, I don't. I still haven't been able to make the scanner strong enough to see that."

"Erm... How long 'til you can find out?" Leo asks from the background, making Raph very keen to know as well.

"That depends."

"Oh, well, do you need any help? You could always ask April."

Said and done, Donnie called April and asked her over and she helped him during the entire week with both the scanner and the milk project. After two weeks, when Raph was four days from month six, the scanner was ready, but they still waited for Raph to be at the first day of the sixth month to see the gender of the baby. Strangely it was Raph's idea. Anyway, the first day of the sixth month and everyone is in Donnie's lab, even Casey and Mr. O'Neil. Splinter is standing a few steps away from the crowd of teenagers when Donnie places the scanner's new handle on Raph's big belly, then he moves forward. The screen that tells what the scanner sees is blurry for half a minute but then they see the baby. April smiles and hugs her father gently, thinking of the time he must have seen her for the very first time. So heartwarming.

"Okay." Donnie says, killing the silence. "Here we go."

He moves he handle just a little and then he stares deeply at the screen as the picture is getting just a little more clear. It takes a while and a few frowning faces, but the he finally gasps and turns quickly around to Mikey. They stare at each other for a while before Donnie asks him.

"How did you...?" He says, but that's all he manages to tell at the moment.

"What is it?" April asks as the rest of them is getting worried that there's something wrong with the baby.

Kirby and Splinter takes a few steps forward and stares at the screen before smiling to each other. When they turn to the teenagers Donnie finishes his line.

"...know it's a girl?"

They all stare at each other and then at Mikey who is simply smiling over the fact that he was right.

"L.T.D." He says. "Like a turtle do!"

"I-it's a girl?" Leo asks, half smiling half unsure.

"It's a girl." Donnie confirms.

They all gasps in wonder and happiness, hugs each other and congratulates Raph to the glory of having a daughter. Raph smiles at them all when he understands he has to, but as soon as he gets the opportunity he stares at the screen that allows him to have just one more look at his unborn baby girl. Yes, he's curious how Mikey ever came to know it was a girl, but right now he doesn't really care about that. All he wants to do is to make sure his daughter is going to be healthy and safe for the rest of his pregnancy, even if it means not leaving the lair.


	9. Chapter 9

**TMNT 2012**

 **Baby shower**

April, her father and Casey checks the list before going to the store. They all wants to make sure they don't miss anything and then has to run to the store and then buy it in the last second. This is very important! It's not that often you get to have a baby shower for your best friends. Yes, baby shower. Raphael is going to have a baby girl in three month and they've all been planning to have a baby shower as soon as Donnie's been able to tell the gender. Well, now he has and it's time to party!

Leo and Mikey are making as much of the preparations as they can while Donnie and Splinter keeps Raph busy in the lab, making him listen to advices of what might happen from now on and how he will have to deal with it. The plan is to keep him out of the dojo for the rest of the day, and knowing Raph, that won't be easy. In the meantime, Raph listens carefully to whatever Donnie or Splinter is telling him, but he still can't get the feeling out of him that they are hiding something from him, or at least Donnie. Splinter has always been hard to read since he's far out of their reach in ninja training.

"So, with all of this that is about to happen to your body..." Donnie does his best to act natural. "...I suggest that you rest for the entire day, you know, not leave the bed unless you have to use the bathroom."

"Erm...okay...? But what if I get hungry?"

"Oh, don't worry about that! We'll be right outside your door to give you anything you need."

Raph sees the traces of unsure in Donnie's eyes, what he doesn't know is that his sensei is noticing that he's noticing. Before he's able to ask Donnie why he's so unsure about all of this Splinter lays a hand on his shoulder, making him look at him.

"My son, you need to listen to your brother." Splinter says. "It is important that you rest during these times, or else you might risk the health of your daughter."

"Is it really that bad?"

"It can be, if you don't rest enough."

Finally surrendering, Raph turns around and walks to his room, closing the door after him. With Splinter at the door, making sure Raph doesn't try to peek, they can prepare everything for the party. After a while April, Casey and Kirby enters the lair with everything they could get from the store. They put the bags on the floor and starts with the biggest sign with the text "It's a girl!" on it with pink letters and balloons. Kirby helps Donnie to do the decorations that's supposed to be hanging from the ceiling - since they are the tallest ones there - while the rest of them prepares the gift table, balloons hanging everywhere and so on. Mikey is in the kitchen making both Pizzanoodlesoup and Pizzashake for Raph. Leo is helping with preparing dinner the rest of them can eat.

In the meantime, Raphael tries his best to relax in his bed, but the sounds from outside is far too hard to ignore. What the shell is going on out there?! He's been trying to get a peek on what they're doing exactly, but Splinter is guarding the door. He groans and falls back on his bed, immediately regretting it as his daughter is kicking disappointed at his behavior.

"Sorry." He whispers and pets the belly, glaring at the door.

Time flows by very slowly, giving him time to think how boring it is to stay in bed like this. Well, at least he's got time to talk to his daughter now, when everyone's busy and can't hear him. He takes one extra glare at the door, making sure no one is listening to him, and then he lays down.

"I-I've been thinking...about your name..." He starts. "...and I'm going to be honest with you. I have no idea what to call you. I know, I know, I should have come up with something by now, but I haven't...it's hard."

He pets his belly gently as he feels her relaxing to the sound of his voice, and he smiles.

"But don't you worry! Once I've come up with something, it will be the greatest name for ya'! And I swear, I won't let Mikey come with any suggestions. Honestly, can you imagine what he might come up with? No, neither can I! But whatever it is, it's got to be stupid, like everything else he's come up with. Like SnakeWeed, or DogPound."

Splinter smiles as he hears the sound of Raphael's voice. He knows that he's talking to his daughter - who else is there to talk to in there? - and he thinks of the time when he was talking to his daughter, Miwa. It was one of the moments when he really realized he was a father. They say that it's harder for fathers to bond with their babies, but once they do, it's a strong bond. Still, Raphael is basically both the mother and the father for the baby, which means he will have no problem to bond with his baby girl when she sees daylight.

"You've got to admit it! You're curious on what's going on out there too!" Raph says as he tickles his belly, making both him and her twists their toes. "Man, you've gotten big!" He pets the belly again with a smile. "I remember when you where so small I didn't even know you existed. But now, hoo-wee, you're big, and to believe that you're still growing! And in three month you're ready to get out of here..."

He gulps as he hears himself say those words. _Three month...that's all that's left?! Sweet mother of mutation..._ Sweat starts to tear up on his forehead and he wipes it off as soon as he feels it, trying to pull his tough face back on. He remembers the book Donnie read before telling him about the basic steps when a mother is going through the labor. It didn't sound very healthy...and to think, that's how people are made!

Donnie takes one step back and observes the creation. The balloons are ready, the food is almost ready, the gifts are being stacked on the gift table, the signs are all up. Now, all they have to do is to prepare the big dining table. Put it in place, decorate it and then it's time to party! He smiles and gives Casey a high five.

"So far so good!" Casey smiles.

"Yup. Now all we have to do is preparing the dining table."

"Got it!"

The two teenagers walks to the garage where they've been keeping the dining table for a few days. To get it in there was a nightmare, to get it out will be a miracle. April and Kirby finally finishes they're decorations and helps them the best they can.

A loud smash echoes through the lair, catching Raph's attention quite a bit. Splinter opens his door before he even manages to think about open it. He tells him that nothing happened, it was just another Michelangelo-in-Donatello's-lab-situation, and then he closed the door again. Raph stares at the door a while before turning back to his belly.

"You heard that to right?" He asks, staring at the belly. "Yeah, thought so. Something's up."

The eager to get out there and find out what's really going on is growing inside of him, but then he remembers that Splinter is right outside his door, which means he won't be able to have a peek even. He sighs and stares at the door with one hand on the belly. What are they doing out there anyway?

"Well that was close." April says as she inspects the legs of the table. "We sure were lucky."

"Is it still intact?" Kirby asks.

"Yeah, it just sounded a lot worse than it actually was."

"That's fortune."

The four of them carries the table out of the lab and then into the dojo where the presents and everything else is. April sets the plates on the table while Donnie and Casey places the chairs on their spots. Kirby walks into the kitchen to see if he can be of any help in there, but everything's finished which means that there's only one last thing to do right now. Bring the beast in. Donnie males sure nobody is visible before he walks over to Splinter and tells him that everything's ready. Then they walk up to Raph's door and knocks on it. Raph opens after a few moments and glares suspiciously at them.

"Yes?" He asks as Donnie gives him a dorky smile.

"Well, I just thought I'd examine you a bit." Donnie says as he walks up to him. "You know, to make sure you're alright and so on."

Raph raises his arms to help Donnie get done with this examine faster. Once he's done he pretends to think for a moment before he smiles at him. Feeling the anger slowly mix with the curiosity he eventually sighs at Donnie.

"Well, I'm sure you'll manage it." Donnie says with a smile.

"Manage what?" Raph asks.

He's not able to do or say anything else before Donnie grabs his bandanna and turns it back and forward so that he can't see a thing. He groans at his brother, but then he feels how they grab him and leads him out of the room and to somewhere. They take it slow and easy with him to make sure he doesn't fall and hurt himself or his daughter. Then, once they've reached the dojo they turn his bandanna back again and runs for a place to hide. Raph stares at the dark room. _Why have they turned the lights of in the dojo?_

"Hey Donnie? What's going on?" He asks, but then he sees that both Donnie and Splinter is gone. "Oh."

He walks up to the light switch and turns the light back on. After that he has a minor heart attack as everyone jumps out of their hiding place and screams "Surprise" at him. He jumps and enters the defense position. They just laugh at him and applause at him with big smiles. Eventually he sees the decorations around in the lair and the sign saying "It's a girl!" with pink letters. He stares around in the lair and starts to realize what's going on.

"Geez, guys!" He says and scratches the back of his head.

His brothers walk up to him and gives him a hug each before the other ones congratulates him. Then the party starts. They all sit at the table and eat the dinner Mikey and Leo has prepared for them all and talk for hours. Raph sits in one corner with both Pizzanoodlesoup and Pizzashake, meaning he's one happy turtle right now. Then, after dinner, they move on to the gift table. Raph opens every single present carefully and smiles deeply as he sees everything he's getting. Toys for children, a brick, cute dresses in purple, blue, red and orange, shoes in the same colors and a feeding set in pink. As he moves on to the last of the presents he sees that it's from Kirby himself. He opens it and finds a camera and a photo album.

"So you can look back at the memories together." Kirby smiles as he hugs April.

Raph smiles and fights the tears from falling down his cheeks, but it's no use. Mikey squeaks as he sees his brother being so affected by their gifts and he flies around his neck and gives him a hug and a kiss on his cheek. And for once, Raphael doesn't smack him in the head. He's far too happy for that right now.

After the gifts they play some music and dance in the dojo as Splinter and Kirby sits at the table and talks about the new experiences Raphael and everyone else will get out of this. Babies takes a lot of responsibility, a lot more than you can imagine. Most parents are shocked by it, and mostly they start to think they're the worst parents in the world, and the chances that Raph and his brothers will think they're horrible at taking care of this baby are great. But as they watch the teenagers having fun, dancing and talking, they both now that no matter what that happens, the baby will be in good hands. With her family.


	10. Chapter 10

**TMNT 2012**

 **Clean love**

The baby shower is over. April, Kirby and Casey left a few hours ago, leaving the Hamato family to clean the lair when they wake up. Splinter makes sure his sons gets to their bedrooms and falls asleep before he walks back to his bedroom. He looks around on the dojo where the party was. It's hard to believe that it was a baby shower for his son, that Raphael is going to have a baby and that he will become a grandfather. It's still so unreal to him that he gets happily reminded every time he spots the baby belly. After a moment of happiness in the dojo he eventually walks in to his room and goes to sleep.

It's in the end of the sixth month and Raphael is starting to feel the urge to clean and to keep his surroundings as clean as possible. He is the one of them who cares the most to clean and so, but now it's like he's a clean-freak, and it's not in the state where his brothers are the only ones who noticed, no, he has noticed himself and has asked Donnie if there's something wrong with him. All Donnie has been able to tell him is that it's completely normal to have this instinct, that it's a part of the pregnancy - the end of the pregnancy to be precise - and that it's nothing to be worried about. But since he's now starting the seventh month, he needs to be more careful than before, because in this time, the baby is getting so big that it actually forces the mother's lungs to move upwards, making them smaller which itself means it will be harder for him to breath. It's not deadly, just annoying that you can't be as active as you're used to be. _Aaanyway, let's get back to the cleaning thing, shall we?_

"It's completely normal Raph." Donnie says with a confident smile. "It's called the Nesting Instincts. Whenever a pregnant woman enters the end of the pregnancy she will get the Nesting Instincts and she will want to clean her surroundings as much as possible in order to prepare it for her labor."

"Oh...and you're sure that it's normal?" Raph continues asking.

"Yes Raphael, I'm completely sure of it."

"Okay..."

Donnie looks at him for a moment, observing him as he slowly focuses his glare down at the floor and then slowly back up at him and on the rest of the surroundings. Eventually he stares at Donnie once more with the same unsure look.

"You still don't believe me, do you?"

"Are you sure it's normal?"

Leo and Mikey can hear the groan Donnie makes from the frustration. Sure, it's understandable that Raph isn't sure about all of the things that happens to his body, but it's also understandable that Donnie gets frustrated for having to deal with his concerns and worry. A few moments later Raph leaves Donnie's lair and heads to the living room. It doesn't take Leo that long to remember the promise he and Mikey made just before Raph went to talk to Donnie - to give Raph a hand in the cleaning.

"Come on Mikey..." He says as he gets up from the coach. "...it's time we clean this place up."

"Aw, man!"

Mikey complains for a while as the three turtles clean the living room, but that's expected. What's not really expected is Raph's disappointed stare when they're finished with the cleaning.

"What's wrong Raph?" Leo asks.

"It's still not clean!"

"Y-yes it is...we just cleaned it." Mikey says.

"Yeah, but not good enough!"

Mikey groans as he sees Raph take the cloth back in his hand and walk over to the couch to clean it some more. Leo lays his hand on his shoulder and nods with the head, telling him to stop complaining and get back to the cleaning, which only makes him groan even more.

Raph's now in his seventh month, and the cleaning thing is still active. He's not cleaning that much as he did in the beginning, but he's still driving everyone crazy as he makes them clean for him. Of course it's thanks to Donnie who told Raph that he needs to rest more now and that they would help him with the cleaning. By now he regrets that even if he knows that it's for the baby's best, and Raph's. As Leo, Donnie and Mikey are cleaning both the living room and the kitchen Splinter cleans up the dojo and Raph his bedroom.

"Man, how long is this gonna' keep up?" Mikey asks.

"Well, from what I read in the book, it will keep on going 'til the baby is born." Donnie says. "But not every day, I guess."

Raph cleans the last of the corner in his bedroom. He feels very satisfied with the result, but he also knows that he might have to clean it in a few hours again. He sighs at the thought of that and thinks of all the times Donnie has told him that it's normal to have this instinct at this time of the pregnancy, but that it's also important for him not to overdo it, since he is in the end of the pregnancy. When he's finished he walks out from his bedroom and into the living room. It smells chemicals in there which makes him feel very good. Mikey lays on the couch with a towel in his hand.

"You okay Mikey?" Raph asks, making the youngest turtle look up at him.

"Sure..." He says and gives him the thumbs up. "...as long as you're happy with the cleaning."

"Yes, it's good."

"Finally!"

Mikey drops the towel on the floor as he whispers 'Booyakasha' with a big smile. He then stands up next to the couch and smiles at Raph, but when he see him staring at the floor next to him the smile fades away and he stares down. The towel lays on the floor and it doesn't take him that long to understand what his hotheaded brother is bothered by.

"Sorry bro." He smiles and takes the towel.

"You have to clean that."

" _What?!_ "

"Just kidding!"

Mikey falls to the couch with a strange look on his face, making Raph realize he might have pushed the joke a little too far, just by mentioning it. He walks up to the couch and sits down next to his youngest brother and stares at his belly before looking at Mikey. He looks very exhausted from all the cleaning. Sure, Mikey never really cleans his room and every single kind of cleaning makes him more or less exhausted, but this time it's more than usual. It makes Raph feel bad, seeing how his condition is making his brother this tired. He looks at his belly again and pets it.

"You okay bro?" Mikey ask, looking a little better than he did a few seconds before.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Raph says, but the look on his face tells Mikey otherwise.

"Okay." He says and lays down in his brother's lap with a grin. "Then you won't mind me having a little conversation with _Raelle_?"

"Who?"

Mikey pets Raph's belly as an answer to his question. Raph stares at him, telling himself that it's a stupid name and that he won't name his daughter that...

"Who else?" Mikey says and starts talking to the baby belly. "Hey Raelle! Was 'up? Feeling good in there? Good. I want you to know that your dear daddy is doing everything he can to take care of you. I assure you, right now he's driving everyone out here crazy by making them clean the entire lair just for you, because he loves you _so, so, so, so_ much and wants the best for you."

Raph listens to the sweet conversation his brother has with his unborn daughter. It makes him calm to hear his youngest brother talk the way he does with his belly, he's more focused and calm when he does. It's probably because he understands that he needs to be careful, not for the hotheaded brother's sake but for the baby's. And seeing Mikey interact with his daughter makes him warm in the heart.

"Mikey?" He asks, making him look up at him.

"Just one sec." He says to the belly. "Your daddy wants something." He then sits up next to Raph with a smile. "Yes?"

"Look, Mikey... I-I'm sorry for making you guys do all of this cleaning stuff alone... I really am... I would have done it on my own if it wouldn't have been for Donnie and... and... look, I'm sorry okay?"

"It's okay Raph." Mikey says with a smile.

"Don't worry about it Raph!" Leo says from behind, making both Mikey and Raph jump in surprise.

They turn around only to see Leo and Donnie stand just a few feet away from them with a smile each. In the next second they're all sitting on the couch, making sure Raph understands that they don't really mind all of the cleaning.

"We know that it's hard for you Raph." Leo says and places a hand on his shoulder. "And this is just one thing we can do to make things a little easier for you."

"Yes, especially now that your body needs to rest as much as possible for the sake of your daughter and yourself." Donnie smiles.

"It's not that bad." Mikey says and lays down in Raph's lap again, petting the belly. "When you think of the reward we're going to get after all of this. Isn't that right little Raelle?"

He tickles the belly as he makes up a various lullaby, but then suddenly he and Raph feels the kick the little girl gives as a response. Knowing what's going on in there, Raph only smiles to it, but Mikey has never experienced that before and immediately flies out of Raph's lap with a small cry.

"Mikey!" Leo gasps and hurries to him. "What happened?"

"It moved in there!" Mikey yells and points at Raph's belly.

"Mikey, that's normal." Donnie says with a calm smile.

"It is?!"

"Yes. It's a sign that the baby is responding to the outside world."

He slowly understands what Donnie is telling him, that the little girl was responding to his lullaby. It only takes a few seconds before he flies of the floor, throwing his arms up in the air with a happy cry. Raph watches as the youngest of them spreads his joy around the lair over the fact that she likes his lullaby, or something, _not that he would have called that a lullaby_. But, she responded to it, and that is what's important.


	11. Chapter 11

**TMNT 2012**

 **Learning Empathy #1**

Raphael is in the late state of the seventh month. His belly is still growing as it's getting closer to the final size it will get in the ninth month. He's been feeling the aches pregnant women do in this state, as the baby is getting heavier and heavier, for a while now. Donatello has always been prepared to help and massage his aching muscles when so required. Leonardo has always been ready to give him a helping hand whenever he needs something to be done, something he's not allowed to do on his own right now. Michelangelo is always ready to cheer him up whenever he notice that his brother is getting low of the unstable emotions. Still, even if they're all doing their best to help, even if they know it must be hard for their brother to go through this they will never really understand what he's going through, not unless they experience it themselves. And that is exactly why Kirby O'Neil has sent this certain gift to them, so that they can get a small understanding of what Raphael is going through.

"Hey guys!" April grunts as she enters the lair.

Her father sent the gift with her so that she would be able to tell them more about it and help them get it on - and to make sure they actually use it. Her grunting is soon heard by the three brothers in the living room. They hurry up to her to help her carry her backpack that seems to be unusually heavy. Although it's not that heavy for a mutant turtle who's been training every single day of his life, it's still so heavy that the mutant turtle can feel the strange increased weight.

"What's in it?" Leo asks as he takes the backpack away from her.

"It's a surprise." She says with a smile. "My dad sent it to you three as a gift."

"What about Raph?" Mikey asks.

"Oh, he'll enjoy it the most, even if he's not allowed to use it."

They stare at her, wondering what she's talking about. She follows them to the couch where they will open the package. Leo puts the backpack gently on the floor. No one of them notices that Splinter is approaching, curious of what's going on in the living room. he leans over Mikey's head as Leo is opening the backpack and takes out the heavy thing that's in it.

"What the-?" They all say when they see the strange and heavy thing in Leo's hands.

Soon they all look at April who's smiling for some strange reason. As Leo is about to ask her what it is she bursts into laughter and Splinter starts giggle as well. The three brothers just stare at them, waiting for one of them to calm down so that she may tell them what it is.

"O-okay..." She says as she dries the tears. "That is an Empathy Belly. It's like a backpack men carries to feel how heavy it really is to carry an unborn baby."

They stare at her and then at the Empathy Belly. It's beige, has a big round belly where it's hiding heavy weight and two randomly looking breast.

"Wait..." Mikey says as he takes it out of Leo's hands. "Are you saying we have to walk around with this thing on?"

"Yes."

"Even on the rooftops?!"

"No." Splinter says from the background. "But you will have to carry it in training."

"With all due respect April..." Leo says, working his brain off just to come up with something to say that will make her change her mind about this. "...where did you get this?"

"Mom bought it for dad when she was expecting me. She wanted him to know how it felt being in that size. And, now he wants you to have it."

Leo stares at her, doing everything he can to get rid of the picture in his mind, the picture of Kirby O'Neil carrying this belly. He scratches the back of his head but can't come up with anything to say. Everything he comes up with and says is no match for her to shoot back at him, even if she's using the one and same line to kill all of his arguments not to carry this thing around.

"Didn't you tell him you wished you knew how it is to be in his situation?"

"W-well...yeah..."

She even wins over Mikey and Donnie with this argument - even if it already was obvious she would win Donnie over - and soon she's helping Leo putting this thing on. It's hard for everyone, except Leo, to hold the laughter inside and soon it echoes in the lair. Leo feels how she pulls the zipper up to keep it from falling of him and the extra weight is starting to have an effect on how he's standing, not to mention his walking.

"Where is Raph?" April asks.

"In his bedroom." Leo says, feeling the humiliation drag his pride down to the floor.

Raph rests on his bed in the dark, but is soon woken up when he hears April calling on him, yelling that he has to come out in the living room and look at Leo... _Okay..?_ He gets out of his bed and walks out from his room. Still half asleep, he doesn't open his eyes that much to see what Leo looks like right now.

"What's the matter?" He asks on his way towards them.

He's halfway to the couch when he finally opens his eyes enough to see Leonardo in the Empathy Belly. Freezing the same second as he sees the view, his eyes grow wide and big and it doesn't take long for him to burst into laughter. He holds one hand on his belly and points with the other as he leans forward due to his laughter. Soon, the other's have joined him in the laughter. It takes a few minutes for him to calm down and actually reach the coach. Leo stands in front of him, feeling the embarrassment slowly taking over.

"Well..." Raph says when he's calm. "...lookin' good Leo!"

Mikey covers his mouth with both his hands to kill the sound of his laughter as April tells Raph about this Empathy Belly thing. He only stops when Donnie looks at him, telling him with one glare to stop it right now.

"Soooooooo..." Raph starts as soon as April finishes telling him what that thing really is. "...they have to carry that every day to understand what I'm going through? Just because they told me they want to know?"

"That's right." April says with a smile. "Dad suggested that they will carry it every third day, so that they will be able to wear it for a whole day instead of just part of every day."

"Well, isn't that just great?" He says as he leans back at the couch's backrest. "Finally I can enjoy the training sessions without wanting to be part of them."

Said and done. Donatello eventually started working on a schedule - not that it's really necessary to have a schedule for this kind of thing - that said who was going to carry the Empathy Belly and when. But since April brought the belly to them they all decided - not Raph, of course - that they would start following this schedule from the upcoming week and give themselves some time to prepare, or come up with some really good excuses. But given the fact that they've got April on _Raph's_ _side_ of all of this, they may just as well give up right now and just deal with it.


	12. Chapter 12

**TMNT 2012**

 **Learning Empathy #2**

Of course they started with Leonardo. Why wouldn't they start with him? Their fearless leader. He takes a deep breath and then puts the Empathy Belly on. He's going to carry it for the entire day, even sleep with it on. He's not allowed to take it off before tomorrow morning, when it's Donnie's turn to have it on.

It doesn't take that very long before he feels the extra weight and realizes it will be a rough day. He walks out from his room and listens to the laughter's that echoes in the lair. Donnie and Mikey points at them as they laugh while Raph just smirks at him.

"How does it feel, oh fearless one?" He says with the same smirk of his.

Leo just stare at them and waits for the right moment to crack a perfect comment to their behavior today, but he never gets the chance. His stomach is empty and his back is complaining over the sudden extra weight. They follow him into the kitchen and Mikey starts preparing Raph's breakfast. It's not until after the breakfast Splinter leaves his room and joins his sons in the dojo. Leo stands ready to face Donnie's attack while carrying the extra big belly on his front. It is very hard to move like normal and to be taken seriously with this thing on. He's out cold on the floor a few minutes into the training and Splinter tells him to take a small break and go sit next to Raph. After the training they all know what's next on the what-to-do-today-list. Clean the lair so that Raph's Nesting Instincts won't drive him crazy.

The day is finally running to its end, meaning Leo will be able to take the stupid belly of soon. They all go to sleep in their bedrooms, but only two of them are actually able to fall asleep. Leo twists and turn in his bed, suddenly understanding why Raphael is so darn tired every morning. It's impossible to sleep with a belly in this size! _Impossible!_

"Here you go!" Leo smirks as he hands the belly to Donnie first thing in the morning. "You deserve it!"

"Very funny Leo..." Is all the smart head is able to say as he takes the belly.

He closes the door and prays a fast pray that April won't be coming down to the lair today. The morning training ends more or less like Leo's did yesterday. A few minutes in and he falls to the floor, far to clumsy to move properly. And to make things worse, April does head down to the lair that day ( _Yes, I am that evil ;P_ )

"Hey Donnie!" She says, trying her best not to laugh at the sight of the very thin turtle carrying the very bizarre belly. "H-how is it?"

"W-well..." He starts with. "...it's...uhm...it's very..."

"It is okay to say it's awful, Donnie."

"Well, it's not _that_ bad. It's just... _heavier_ than...you think..."

April giggles at what he said, and how he said it. She sure feels a little bad for bringing the thing to them, but she feels more bad for wanting to bring it to them and to see what they will look like while carrying it. Sure, she missed Leo yesterday, but she has more chances to see that to.

In his lab, he is not able to do anything without saying _sewer-apples_ right after. It's hopeless to work on anything with the belly in the way. Who would have guessed that the size of the belly would make such a big difference? April is kind enough to help him the best she can and clean everything up after him and so. He does feel very embarrassed to wear this thing in front of her, and hearing Mikey mark him about it doesn't really help at all. He does feel very good at the moment when he hands the despicable belly to Mikey the very next morning.

"Thank you!" Mikey says with a voice that makes it hard to tell if he's happy to carry it or just sarcastic.

"You're welcome. See you in the dojo."

"Totally."

During the morning training, Mikey actually manages to pull it through despite the extra weight. He does ignore the funny stares he gets from his brothers and sensei, and just carries on being Mikey for the rest of the training. Sure, his back aches badly after the training, but he doesn't seem to care about that. During the rest of the day Mikey makes sure to take things as calm as he possibly can. When he cleans the lair he takes care of the dusting which is the easiest part of the cleaning, and once they're done he makes sure to be just as "lazy" as Raph. They sit down on the couch and watches some episodes from the Super Robo Mecha Force Five series.

That's basically how they end up spending their days. Carrying the Empathy Belly and then clean the lair. When they don't do that they head up to the surface and goes on patrols. But when they return home from their latest patrol, Mikey has come up with a question for Splinter.

"Sensei, did you ever wear an Empathy Belly when Tang-Shen was pregnant?" He asks as soon as he sees Splinter.

His question drags all of their attention to the giant rat who's standing in the middle of the living room. They can all see that he's thinking carefully about his past and what he's going to tell his sons in this moment. He then takes a deep breath and looks at his sons.

"No, I did not."

"Oh...did you carry something else?"

"Occasionally."

"Like what?"

Splinter looks at Michelangelo. He knows that his son started this conversation in order to plan a prank, but now it seems to have gotten interesting to him. So interesting that he's actually paying attention to what he's saying. He pulls his beard and thinks about the answer he's going to give. _He's not gonna answer that._

"That is irrelevant." He says and pulls his beard once more.

"Would _you_ like to test the Empathy Belly one day?"

Now the attention is on Mikey. His question is both funny and worrying. Funny in the way that it would be hilarious to see sensei carrying this belly bag and worrying in the way of what punishment sensei might give Mikey for coming up with this question/suggestion. He stands in front of Splinter, holding one hand under the belly to help his back deal with the extra weight, waiting for the answer.

"That _too_ is irrelevant." Splinter says, looking at Mikey with a glare that's partly annoyed and partly amused.

The very next day this conversation is forgotten by everyone. Leo is carrying the Empathy Belly in the dojo and is coping a little better than he did the first time. Still, it's hard to get used to the extra weight and size when you're in a battle. But then they get a little calling and heads up to the surface to deal with some Purple Dragons and possibly some Foot soldiers. Leo takes the Empathy Belly off his front and heads out the lair with Mikey and Donnie, leaving Raph, sensei and April alone in the lair with the Empathy Belly. Believing the conversation is forgotten by everyone is a fatal mistake that Splinter is about to realize.

"So, now that everyone's gone..." Raph says as Splinter heads back to the dojo. "...would you like to try out the Empathy Belly?"

Splinter turns around and stares at April and Raph, and in order to make a long story short, it ends with Splinter meditating while having the Empathy Belly around his body. Sure, he's just sitting down and meditating, but it is a little harder - even for a Ninja Master - to concentrate with the heavy back pack around his front. He's still carrying it when the other three turtles arrive home and soon they're all standing at the dojo, staring at their father and master with the Empathy Belly. However, after he's done with his meditation he returns the belly to Leonardo, who seems to be in a much better mood now that he's seen Splinter carrying it as well. Still, he gets the feeling that sensei doesn't ever want to talk about this. _I wonder why... ;P_


	13. Chapter 13

**TMNT 2012**

 **Diapers know-about**

Raphael has finally reached the eighth month of his pregnancy. He's slowly getting closer to the day he's going to give birth and is very nervous and anxious about the whole giving birth thing. Nightmares are taking over his sleep and he ends up waking up in the middle of the night with a cry, nightmares of him being changed in the Kraang's lab, his unborn daughter being experimented on. When he eventually wakes up from the nightmares and lives through the day he gets anxious that the pregnancy is soon over. Sure, he'll be glad when it is over, but there's still so much that has to be done before he can feel that joy.

"How are you doing Raph?" Donnie asks him when he sees the worrying face of his brother.

Raph look up at Donnie and is just about to tell him about his worries when all he sees is the big beige belly hanging from his plastron. Yes, he has seen his brother's with this belly before, but this view is just so unbeatable. He soon laughs shortly at the sight before going serious as Donnie sits down next to him.

"Yeah, I know it's funny, but that's not what brought me here." Donnie says. "How are you? You don't look too well."

"Yeah...I guess it's just worries and so..."

"I understand Raph. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe later."

"As you wish."

Donnie stands up and walks away from the couch, still thinking about the conversation with Raph. He said he wanted to talk about it later, but _when_ is " _later_ "? As he enters the kitchen, Donnie takes a deep breath and tries to focus on his task to create drinkable milk for the baby. He has made some progress, but he still wants it to be ready as fast as he can, given how soon the birth really is now.

Raph sits on the couch and turns on the TV in order to look busy. He thinks of the time he's been through with this pregnancy. The first two-three month was horrible as he always threw up and could barely eat and so, the time after that was much calmer if you ignore the mood swings and suddenly growing belly. Then there was the time with the Nesting Instincts which he still feels and now it's the empathy belly. So, yeah, this pregnancy has had its up's and down's, and it continues to have them. As Raph changes the channels he eventually ends up watching a commercial for baby diapers. Like a lightning from a clear sky it hits him. _He has no idea how to change a diaper!_ _Holy tolito!_ He stands up as he realizes it without really having anywhere to go, plus he got up too fast and is now facing the blurry dizziness and has to sit down again. When the dizziness is over he gets up at normal speed and walks back to Donnie.

"Hey Donnie!" Raph shouts as he enters the lair.

Before Donnie answers Raph's shouting he gives his brother an annoying stare, as if he just did something that he should be aware of why he's not allowed or meant to do that. It takes a few moments for him to realize why.

"I'm sorry to hurry in like this and ignore everything you've told me about taking it easy and rest and stuff like that-" He says. "-but I have to ask you something. Like a favor."

"Alright then." Donnie says as he pushes his lab chair towards Raph who eventually sits down. "I'm listening."

Pretending to scratch an itch in the back of his head Raph does his best searching for the words in his head. Sure, he shouldn't feel that embarrassed that he doesn't know how to change a diaper, it's not like any of them have been needing to, yet, but he's still embarrassed of it. Eventually taking a deep breath he just lets it out.

"Show me how to change a diaper." He spits out as fast as he can.

Donnie stares at him with big eyes. That's it? That's the favor he just asked for? Knowing Raph he would have expected something more... challenging, but this? Alright... If he wished to, then who was Donnie to say 'no'?

"Alright." The purple banned turtle said and went through some books he's been reading for the last couple of weeks.

Raph stares at his brother. He could sense the wonder in his brother, he could see the confusion in his eyes as he first understood what the hotheaded turtle had just said. But, he hadn't laughed at him and pointed at him, and that was always something. Feeling a little less embarrassed as the smarter brother rumbled through all of those books that laid scattered all over his working bench. It was pretty clear that the smarter one had done everything he could think of to prepare himself for the coming birth and babysitting: Reading a bunch of books that told you everything you need to know about it.

"Let' search on the internet, shall we?" Donnie eventually said, giving up to the mess on his desk.

Half smirking at his brother, Raph only nodded as Donnie started typing on the keyboard. It didn't take very long before Donnie found something and showed Raph. There was a website with pink patterns all over the screen and pictures of a mother holding her baby as she step-by-step changed the diaper. At the bottom of the site there where links to other things you might be wondering about, like how to nurse, how to make the baby burp after it fed and lots of more. Feeling a heavy weight lifting from Raph's shoulder as he sees all of the information he blames himself for not searching on the internet before. So much trouble he would have saved Donnie from, although he's pretty sure his smart brother didn't mind that much.

"Well, there you go." Donnie says as he shifts the laptop to him, as if he was telling him to take it with him to read like a book.

"Thanks Don." Raph says, trying not to laugh at the sight of him in the empathy belly.

He then leaves Donnie in the lab and heads to his room with the laptop in his hands. Making sure no one sees what's up on the screen he hurries as fast as he can to his bedroom. When he's finally alone in his room, he sits down at the bed and searches for the information he's lacking. After finding a stuffed animal he got from the baby shower, that seemed to be in the right size, he then started practicing with a blanket how and where to fold to make the 'diaper' fit perfectly. It took some time, as it always does in the beginning, but he eventually started to get the hang out of it. He just hoped and wished it would be enough know-about for the time he actually has to use a real diaper on a real baby. Probably not, but it was still better than nothing.

Drying the 'sweat' from his forehead he then looked down at the result of his work. It doesn't look like anything on the picture, but that's to be expected from a teenage guy - _not to mention, a mutant turtle teenage boy_ \- who's never done this before and who has to practice with a blanket and a stuffed animal. Yeah, it wasn't a very big surprise in the end, but hey, what can you do about it?


	14. Chapter 14

**TMNT 2012**

 **Preparations = Panic!**

April lays on her bed and reads the texts she's received from both Donnie and Leo. They seem to be very excited yet extremely nervous about the fact that Raph is almost in his ninth month. Now they can count the weeks to the labor. _'Hey April! Do you have something that can help us prepare for Raph's labor? I talked to sensei about this and he referred me to you'_ , says the one Leo sent. _'Hi April. I was just wondering if your father kept something from the time he and your mother where expecting you... like a book or something like that..? It's okay if you don't.'_ Says the one Donnie sent. She knows that they already have some books that tell you a thing or two about the labor stuff, but it's not the same thing as 'seeing' how it really happens, now is it? Sighing silently as she starts thinking about it. It does ring a bell when she thinks about it, and she's soon out of her bedroom.

"Hey, dad?" She asks when she sees her father sitting on the couch and watching some TV. " Do we have a video about labor and stuff like that?"

He doesn't answer right away, thinking about the reason why his daughter is asking about it. She can see the thoughts move around in his head and when he finally remember Raph's situation. Feeling how she can't help her giggling, she covers her mouth at her father's change of facial expressions.

"Right!" He says and gets up on his feet. "Sorry, I just didn't follow... erm... yes, I believe we have some videos... _somewhere_."

"Thanks dad." She says as she writes the responds to Donnie and Leo.

...

Leo stares at his tPhone, reading the text he just got from April. ' _Think so. Just gonna have a look around._ ' He's curious about it at the same time he's worried and scared. What if they really have a video about it..? Will it be scary..? Will it be disgusting..? Swallowing loudly, he puts his phone aside and tries to focus on the Super Robo Meca Force Five episode that's on right now, placing his hands around the empathy belly in his lap. Mikey is right in front of him, laying on the floor like he always is when he watches TV. Donnie and Raph are in the lab doing some check-ups, and since it's very quiet in there all he can do is assume everything's going well.

A few moments later Raph opens the lab door and walks out of there with Donnie right behind him. None of them seems to be upset in any kind of way which is a good sign. Leo looks at them and smiles at them both.

"Hey Donnie." He says. "I just got a text from April. She will take a look around for anything that can help us."

"Good." Donnie says and immediately picks his phone up and reads the same text as the one Leo got. "Well, that's great. I hope they find something."

"Something what?" Raph says, making them look at him. "What is she looking for?"

"Oh, just something we can use to prepare ourselves for the labor." Donnie says.

"Don't you have a bunch of books in your lab?"

"Yes, but I think it would be better if we could see how a labor goes. Like a video."

Raph sits down at the couch and shares a stare with Mikey who just got interested in the subject. They make a face towards one another before looking back up at Donnie. Before Raph manages to ask anything Mikey speaks up for him.

"Erh... Isn't that just... gross?"

"Maybe..." Donnie says. "...but it will also be a lot of help when it comes to see how a labor goes in every single detail. You can't get that out of a book."

Seeming to be pretty happy with the answer, Mikey turns back towards the TV to finish watching the episode. Raph looks at him for a second and then looks down at his belly. It is big, round and heavy, which is completely normal in the end of the eight month. He's not growing so fast anymore and Donnie just told him that it's a sign that the baby is getting more and more ready for labor. He is nervous about it, he is extremely nervous about it, and he's not that sure about the whole labor movie thing either.

The day is just about to end when Donnie gets a text from April, saying they found a video for them to watch. Donnie informs the others about it and texts April to come and bring it down as soon as possible - meaning right away. As Donnie texts April, Leo decides it would be wise to go and inform Splinter about the news. Raph stands right in front of Donnie, trying to read the texts between him and April.

"There, she's on her way." Donnie says and looks up at Raph. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah... Just... nervous..."

That is very understandable. It's not like anyone of them ever planned to become father's in a world like this - not to mention having a baby on their own. Donnie looks at Raph, sees his worried glare as he stares into the 'nowhere' space, and places his hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay to be nervous Raph. Heck, I would have been terrified!" He says. "But remember that we're all in this together."

A weak smile is all he gets from his hotheaded brother. It's still something considering who we're talking about here. Raphael isn't the kind of turtle who shows affection that much, unless it's anger. The clear greeting from April is the one thing that catches all of the turtles attention from whatever they're doing. She smiles at them all and giggles when she sees Leo wearing the empathy belly, before she hands the video over to Donnie.

"Here it is." She says. "Are you sure you guys are up for this? It is very...extreme."

"Don't worry about it." Donnie says with a dorky smile. "If we can take care of the Kraang, the foot and the purple dragons then a video like this is no problem at all."

"Let's stick to that thought." She says back with a bit of sarcasm in her voice, but still not.

They walk up towards the TV as Splinter walks out from the dojo, curious about the video himself. Donnie takes the video out of the folder and puts it in the player and then he backs away. Mikey stares at the TV screen as it starts playing the video. Using one of Donnie's smokebombs, he makes his way to the kitchen and back to the couch within seconds, returning with popcorns in his hands. They all stare at the TV as it plays the video for them, showing them the horror, the drama and then after a very long time of pain and screaming, the tiny baby in the mother's arms. Staring out over his sons, Splinter tries to see if they're in shock for life or just the moment. As the video is over they all stare at the TV in shock and then they soon look at Raph who has to go through all of that... the pain and the screams...

"No..." He says after a moment of silence.

They stare at him, to afraid and worked up to say anything at the moment. Hearing how he's breathing heavily and seeing how he shakes his head, Splinter places his hand on his sons shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze.

"Oh no!" He says again. "That is not going to happen..!"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Leo asks, getting up on his feet.

"What that woman just did... I'm not gonna' do that!"

"Raph..!"

"No! It's not happening! Never! Sh-she just have to stay in there forever!"

"That's not a good idea, Raph." Donnie says.

"W-well what else am I going to do?! I am not doing what that woman just did!"

They stop the shouting back and forward when Splinter gets up on his feet and grabs his son's shoulders, forcing him to face him. Raph stares at his father in horror, fear and worries - a stare he's never given his father before, which tells him just how scared his son is right now.

"It is not dangerous, my son." He says with a soft voice. "The pain is not going to last forever. The horrifying moment you fear will barely exist for a day, and after that you will be a father for the rest of your life."

He's calmer, but that doesn't change the fact that he's still scared. Letting his head drop forward after listening to his father's words... oh how he longs for that moment to be over with already.

"Do not fear, my son." Splinter says. "Do not panic."


	15. Chapter 15

**TMNT 2012**

 **Not tired yet**

Raphael does everything he can to sleep, but it's easier said than done when the belly is at this size. He groans as he tries to turn to the other side, due to the effort he has to put into it. The belly isn't just big and clumsy, it's also very heavy. When he finally settles with his current position, a small move inside his belly gets his attention, making it impossible to fall asleep. With a sigh he sits up in his bed and rubs his belly softly, trying to make the girl fall asleep. It's the first night of the ninth month and it's almost like she understands what's coming soon and she's not very happy with it.

When she's laying still inside of him he gives it a try, laying back in the bed and closing his eyes. Yawning loudly as he tries his best to let sleep take him under its spell, yet another movement makes him open up his eyes. Petting the belly without getting up this time, he foolishly believes that should do it. He is however proven wrong as a great kick from the inside makes him yelp in pain and forces him up from the warm bed.

"Hey..!" He tries to say while petting the belly a little harder this time. "Easy! I _am_ carrying you after all, remember?"

He yawns again and puts both his hands on the belly when yet another complaining kick inside of him tells him how unsatisfied she is.

"It's the middle of the night! You should be asleep!" He says while rubbing both his hands across his belly, massaging it desperately to make the kicks stop.

He finally surrenders after a while and gets out of bed with a very tired " _Fine_ " mouthing from his lips. Holding one hand under the belly, he tries to open his bedroom door as quietly as he can before walking out to the living room. Yawning as he stands by the TV, he starts walking once another movement inside him commands him to continue the walk.

"You are _so awake..!_ " He whispers, walking around in the lair.

He walks two or three times around in the living room before he walks up to the kitchen but since he's not hungry, he continues around to the dojo and leans towards the tree for a moment to breath. The movements inside him starts to wear off, but they're still there, meaning she's not asleep yet. _Keep on going daddy! Keep on going daddy! Keep on going daddy!_ He can quite literally hear what she's saying in each of the kicks she's using to make him move around in the lair. _Not asleep yet! Not asleep yet! Keep on going daddy! Not asleep yet!_

He checks the time from time to time whenever he walks by the kitchen. It's just about two a.m., and she's still wide awake. Yawning for the last time in the living room. His tiredness has reaches the level on where you forget if you're asleep or awake, or why you aren't in your bed by now, why you're walking in circles all around in the lair. With half open eyes he makes his way to his bedroom, makes his way to his bed, makes his way to his warm and much wanted bed. Walking like a zombie he can't even hear the loud creaking his door makes as he opens it, doesn't hear Mikey yawn loudly as he wakes up. He just makes his way to his bed and tries not to smash his belly as he crawls under his blanket. Only then does he remember why he wasn't in his bed, why he wasn't asleep. _I'm not tired yet daddy! I'm not tired yet daddy! Keep on going daddy! Keep on going daddy!_ The kicks aren't as harsh as they were before, but they're definitely harsh enough to make dear daddy groan loudly, exhausted, tired and surrendering. A small sobbing echoes in his room while Mikey peeks in through the already open door. Seeing his older brother tired like that and unable to sleep isn't really what he'd expected to see when he woke up.

"Please, _pleeeaase_ honey!" Raph whimpers. "Go to sleep. _Please!_ Daddy is _soo_ tired!"

Listening to his whimpering, Mikey walks into Raph's bedroom, thinking of how he could help his brother in this situation. When he's right next to the bed he sits down on the floor and looks at his brother for a moment before reaching out and rubbing the belly softly. As soon as Raph feels the other hand move around across his belly he looks up and finds Mikey sitting on the floor next to him.

"Did I wake you up?" He ask and gets a silent nod back for an answer. "Sorry..."

"No prob dude." Mikey says. "It's not as bad as to be in your place."

Raph looks at him and sighs, leaning back against the pillow under his head as Mikey continues to rub his belly softly. Closing his eyes, he feels how a part of the weight on his shoulder gets lifted away as Mikey continues to massage his belly. It feels nice...

"Do you want me to sing for her?" Mikey asks, remembering that sensei always sang to them whenever they had trouble falling asleep as hatchlings.

"Sure."

"Okay."

Continuing to rub his hand over Raph's belly, Mikey changes his sitting position so that he's now facing the belly and leans his head against it softly. He starts by whispering something to the belly, telling the baby girl that she's keeping daddy up and that he really need to get some sleep. Then there's a moment of silence as Mikey looks at the belly and then he starts to hum the melody of the lullaby sensei always sang to them.

...

Donnie wakes up in his lab from the feeling of cold feet. He yawns and gets up from his desk filled with paper and test results of the milk he's trying to make for the baby girl. For some reason that's a lot harder than you would believe. He stretches his muscles and walks out of the lab door, making his way to the bedrooms. Just as he walks around the corner he stops, trying to analyze if the sight of Leo sneak peeking into Raph's bedroom is a dream or not. Feeling how he's being observed, Leo turns his attention towards Donnie who seems to be just plain confused. Holding one finger over his mouth, Leo signals his taller brother to be silent and not ask the ocean of questions he believe is on its way. Then he signals him to come closer as he turns his attention back to whatever is going on in Raph's room. Feeling awkward for some reason, Donnie slowly walks up towards Leo but stops for a moment when he hear Mikey singing the lullaby from their childhood. Leaning from behind the door opening, the two brother's observe the situation between the other two brothers. They stand like that for a while and it doesn't take very long before Mikey makes it clear that he knows they're there.

"Raelle's been keeping him awake." He says and turns around, facing his two curious brothers. "I'm just trying to make her go to sleep."

"Oh... Well, erm..." Leo says, trying to understand how Mikey realized they where there.

Raph twists a little when his brain finally registered the other voice and lifts his head to see what's going on. When he sees the other two standing awkwardly at his door he just feels how something cracks inside him - not so sure what however. He groans loud enough for them to hear before speaking up.

"Why, geez." He says and looks at them with his usual annoyed stare. "Since Mikey's in here why don't you just invite the foot as well?"

He quickly raises his finger when he feels how Mikey is about to speak up, and he's pretty sure he already knows what he's about to say. Donnie and Leo however simply walk into the bedroom, sits by the bed like Mikey and listens when Mikey explains the situation for them and soon they find out their own ways to help both Raph and the baby - Raelle - fall asleep for the night. It's not the first time she's been keeping Raph awake during the nights, but it's the first time they ever had to help them go to sleep. Leo sits next to Mikey, massaging the belly as Mikey sings the lullaby. Donnie makes his way into the bed to help Raph with the muscle knots he believes might be one of the many reasons why Raph can't go to sleep. They all stay by his side, even when he's fallen asleep. Still singing to the belly, still massaging the worried baby to sleep and still massaging the muscle knots out of the shoulders, they don't stop before they're all asleep as well.

...

Splinter wakes up as the sunlight hits his face. He yawns and gets up from his bed, scratching his cheek before standing up on the floor. He opens the door and listens to the sounds of his sons in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Walking through the dojo, he suddenly stops when all he can hear is silence. No one is in the kitchen making breakfast, no one is in the dojo practicing before breakfast, no one in the lab trying to make some experiments before breakfast and no one watching TV waiting for breakfast. Listening carefully through the silence, he soon hear soft snoring echo through the lair, coming from the bedrooms. He makes his way there and when he sees Raphael's bedroom door wide open, he figure's something's up. Leaning from behind the door, Splinter peeks into the bedroom and there they all are. All four of them, sleeping all around Raphael's bed, keeping their brother company from what he can tell must have been a rough night for the green eyed turtle. A soft chuckle echoes through the bedroom, but it's not loud enough to wake any of the sleeping turtles up. Turning around and walking back to the dojo, sensei is taking this moment to do some meditation over what he's just observed.


	16. Chapter 16

**TMNT 2012**

 **Beginning of the end**

 _I'm going to give some short versions of what the Foot and the Kraang have been doing for all this time. Really short stories, because I don't know how to tell more. Then I'm going to continue as usual. Hope you like it. (+) This chapter may be a little longer than I usually make them. Oh well..._

 **-First month-**

The Irmadroid watch the turtles escape the lab with the one with red bandanna - the one known as Raphael - still unconscious. Even though they didn't finish the experiment like they wanted or planned to, they still managed to engage it. With the grin spreading through the face, the Irmadroid hurries to the communication center in order to call their allies and inform them about the experiment.

" _What?_ " The dark voice of Shredder echoes in the room. " _You let the turtles escape?!_ "

"Of course not! They managed to break out of the ridicules cages your so called scientist built for us! If we had done the experiment like we planned in the first place we would have been able to experiment on all four of them, but the stupid laws of physics in this dimension only allowed us to do one at the time! So instead of four at once all we got is-"

" _Enough!_ Shredder yells as he unleashes his hand swords. " _You will fix everything you need to in order to complete the experiment! You will not rest until-_ "

"I just told you that we _did_ engage the experiment! Maybe if you weren't so stuck up you would listen to an alien until it finished it's sentence."

" _You despicable-_ "

"As I was saying. We managed to engage the experiment, just not the way we liked to. Instead of getting all four of them, we only managed to get one."

" _You got one of the turtles? Who?_ "

"The one with the red bandanna, the one known as Raphael. They managed to escape after the experiment was finished on him. However, it might just be what we need in this dimension - a test round to see if everything goes as planned."

" _Very well. You will let the turtles be, we will handle them. In the meantime you will prepare the experiment so that it goes as planned next time. You have until the ninth month on you._ "

 **-Second month-**

Karai stares at the three turtles through her binoculars. Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo. Given the news about Raphael she got from Shredder, she can only imagine that the three brothers had him grounded. A smile spreads through her face when she thinks about it. What better way to make the Hamato-clan pay for what they've done other than this? She's sure her father is going to destroy the little "new member" in some way. He's been talking with the Kraang for almost every day since the experiment engaged. Still, they have to be patience and wait it through 'til the right time comes for them to strike. She observes them for yet another moment before heading back to the Foot-lair to deliver the report to Shredder. As she tells him about her observations, he only chuckles.

 **-Third month-**

"What happened to the fourth member of you?" Karai smiles as she pulls her katana. "Not fit for fight?"

"That's none of your business, Karai!" Leo says, pulling his katanas.

"Well that's too bad! As entertaining you are Leonardo, I was kind of hoping for the hothead this time."

...

Karai knees before Shredder and tells him about their interact with the turtles and that there was no sight of Raphael this time either. Shredder smiles as he hears the report. Knowing Yoshi as his brother, he knows what it all means. The turtle is indeed pregnant and Hamato Yoshi is doing everything he can to keep him safe. Shredder smiles to himself as he thinks about it. _Soon Hamato Yoshi, soon you will know that you can never keep them safe from me..!_

 **-Fourth month-**

After the latest update from the Kraang, the foot is now keeping one extra eye on the turtles, since the Kraang needs to get some extra tools and subjects to make the preparations for the experiment. Due to this, the foot needs to keep the turtles busy so they won't notice the heavy activity of the Kraang. Still, they can never be too sure about those freaks - a lesson they've learned too many times ago, and will learn many times more.

"Three again?" Karai laughs as she reveals her presence for the turtles. "You guys must have some low expectations about us, leaving the hothead at home every time you go outside."

The battle between the footbots and the turtles is far enough to keep them busy so the Kraang can get all of the supplies they can get their hands on this night. Karai smiles as she observes the fight between her footbots and the turtles. They just have to keep getting in their way until the Kraang has everything they need. That is one amusing thought... _I can barely wait 'til the next time!_

 **-Fifth month-**

The Kraang observes the machinery as it's slowly starting up the test round for the experiment. It's built for four turtles at the time this time and it's time to see if it's strong enough to handle it. Even if they've already got one turtle ready, they need to be prepared to run the experiment on him again, just in case his round turns out to be a failure.

The machine starts up and sparks flies across the room as the power is slowly reaching maximum level - the level that is needed. But just as it's about to reach the machine shuts itself down, as if it knew something bad was going to happen if it allowed itself to keep on trying. It doesn't take very long for the news to reach the Shredder and soon the news have reached Karai.

"Keep the turtles busy while the Kraang do their preparations." Shredder tells her.

She bows to him with a smile on her lips. He doesn't have to tell her twice about this, she's far too eager to get out there and tease the turtles to need a second order to be on her way. It takes a few moments for her to find them, but when she does, it's party time!

 **-Sixth month-**

Karai leans towards the wall as she observes the Kraangdroids working on the machine. It's big, really big and she's starting to wonder if they're really able to finish it in time. Sure, they have finished it a couple of times, but it has also exploded into pieces as many times, which is why Shredder has sent her down there to make sure they really do their best.

"Hey Kraangdroids!" She yells out to anyone of them - it's hard to tell which is which. "How's it going? Will it work this time?"

No one answers her. All she gets back is ice-cold stares that soon leave her alone in the corner. She sighs and stares up in the ceiling for a moment. This isn't really what she had in mind when Shredder told her he had a mission for her. She had kind of hopes he would send her on one of those turtle-teasing-patrols like usual. This is just so boring.

 **-Seventh month-**

All this talking about it being Raphael's seventh month through pregnancy has really started to get an effect on Karai. One day when she was free to do whatever she wanted to do, she went to a library a few blocks away and started checking some books that's supposed to help mothers-to-be through the pregnancy. For some reason she just felt like it would be fun to see what horrible moments the turtles are going through back home.

People turn around to stare at her for every time they she giggles. Drying some tears from her eyes as she pictures the turtles going through all of those events, she keeps on reading about _The Nauseous from the first month, the change in food, nesting instincts_ and so much more. But then she reads something that makes her stop laughing.

 _"...the woman is unique in a way that men ever can be - she is the only gender that can have babies. This isn't just because of her being the only one having the uterus, ovaries and placenta. If men where to grow these parts they still wouldn't be able to go into labor due to the size of their hips and pelvis. The woman is the only gender that has the right hips, the extra space in her pelvis, that is needed for not just carrying a child, but to also deliver it. Part from this the woman is the only gender that can create milk in order to feed the child and..."_

Karai stares at the text for a moment before deciding to go and lend the book and bring it back to the Shredder. In one way she believes the Kraang is aware of this information - why else would they even have started the experiment? - and has a solution to it. Still, she has a feeling that they don't have a clue.

 **-Eighth month-**

The Kraang is working over their usual schedule. Thanks to the information Karai brought up Shredder is now having them preparing yet another machine to make sure the turtle Raphael will be able to have the child. It's not an experimental machine, so it's easier to build, but that doesn't change the fact that it takes a long time. That is why both the Kraang and the Foot has agreed to let it be built part by part in Dimension-X and then the pieces will be brought back to earth and put together - like a puzzle.

"Urgh..." The Irmadroid sighs. "Why did you have to come up with this information so late?!"

"Well, excuse me brain worm." Karai says. "It's not my fault you geniuses didn't think about double checking it before deciding that it would work."

"We've done this kind of experiment on other life forms before and it's gone just according to plan!"

"Really? Well, forgive me for saying this, but it doesn't really show."

The Irmadroid growls at her response, but then decides to work his anger out on the experiment instead of continue the argument with her. As much as he hates to admit it, she's got a point. They should have known about this earlier.

"We did the exact same changes in this experiment as we did in those experiments. Now, if it wouldn't have been for you humans and you're extra complicated breeding system, this would have worked!"

"Stop nagging and start working."

 **-Ninth month-**

The kraangdroids gather in the hall, waiting for the Irmadroid to enter. Eight month have passed since the experiment was engaged and the beginning of the last month has started. Now, they need to know how the plan goes in detail in order to succeed. Soon, as every Kraangdroid has gathered together, the Irmadroid enters the hall, standing proud in front of them all.

"Well, well, well..." He begins talking. "...so much to do and so little time. But the orders are clear. It's been exactly eight month since the test round of X-periment Male Pregnancy began, and it's about time we find out the result. Prepare everything you have to, it's time to collect the prize!"

...

 _The ninth month. The beginning of the end._

Raphael hasn't left his bed yet. He's laying still, thinking about what he's going through, what he has been through and what he's about to go through. A burning feeling spreads through his skin whenever he thinks about it. He knows, just like everyone else knows, that the Kraang has a plan for his baby... and since he's in the ninth month now he can't shake the feeling out of him that they're up to something... that they're planning to take his child away from him as soon as she's born. All of these thoughts makes it impossible for him to relax and trust that nothing is going to happen and as a result he's unable to leave the bed.

"Dude!" Mikey shouts from outside his room. "Are you okay?"

Raph glares at the door as it opens and reveals the youngest of the brothers, glaring back at him. After all of the trouble he went through just to help Raph get some sleep last night, Mikey sure is awake early. So is all of them. All of them helped him to calm down and have a night when he could sleep. Still, for some reason his body just won't allow him to get out of the bed. It's like there's a secret instinct inside of him that senses something and forbids him from leaving the safety it knows of.

Mikey stares at Raph for a moment, but when he doesn't get more that a glare back for a response he enters the room. Feeling the stress his brother is sending out is making him nervous. He's never seen Raphael like this before, their hotheaded brother that doesn't let anything stand in his way.

"What'cha' thinking about bro?"

Raph sighs and turns his face towards Mikey. He's placed himself right next to his bed, the same spot as last night. He tries to smile but just ends up looking weird.

"Everything..." He starts. "...the foot...the Kraang... _my daughter_..."

A moment of silence takes over as the two brothers simply stay still and listens to the other's breaths.

"I-" Raph starts, but stops himself from continuing.

"What?" Mikey says and changes his position a little so that he can face his brother. "What did you say?"

Raph looks up at Mikey and sighs before burying his face under his blanket.

" _I'm scared..._ "

...

Donatello sits at his desk. He's been staring at the same thing the entire day and he can't stop for some reason. There's something that's disturbing his thoughts. Something that won't let his attention go elsewhere.

In the very beginning, the female hormones raised extremely until they reached a certain level. Back then it was a mystery, but now they know why... no, that's not it... what is it then..? There's something... The baby is growing just as fast as a regular human fetal..? That's not strange, which means it's not it... what..? What is it he's been missing..?

The reading of Raphael's hormone level lays in front of him, but he's far too busy thinking to being able to see it. The hormone level is normal given the situation... but... something isn't... A sigh echoes through the lab as Donnie decides to take a small break from his "thinking". He gets up from his desk and walks around in circles, still thinking. After a few moments he walks up to the ultrasound machine he built. He decides to glare at some of the ultrasound pictures he managed to take a while back, maybe they can help him think of something. He ends up comparing one picture with another and then he sees it.

...

"Donnie, what is it?" Leo tries to calm his brother down. "Tell me! What's going on?!"

Donnie flies around in the lab, checking things no one have a clue about and then he just checks his papers again before flying around like before. Leo didn't see any other alternative but to call April and have her coming down here. Hoping that his brother's crush would be strong enough to bring him back to them, Leo quickly dialed her number and told her they needed her help. Once she showed up it seemed to work, but then he returned to his odd state.

"What's going on?" April asks as she enters the lab.

"I don't know!" Leo yells back as he tries to catch Donnie. "All I know is that he's been like this for almost an hour now!"

Together the two of them helps out to try and catch the very upset and confused Donatello, but they fail. He is a ninja yes, but he's also a genius, which makes it almost impossible to predict his next move. But then he suddenly stop and stares at them.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asks like nothing had happened.

"That's what we would like to know!" Leo says.

"Wha-?"

"We've been trying to catch you for almost an hour now Donnie." April says. "It was almost like you where in some sort of trance."

"Huh?" Donnie says, but then it hits him. "Oh, gee guys. I was just in the zone, that's all."

"The zone?" Leo says.

"Yeah, I always get like that when I'm super focused - in the zone. I'm actually surprised you've never seen me like this before."

"Maybe 'cause you always tell us to stay out?" Leo says.

"True... which means if you guys would have learned not to mess around in my lab so darn much, you might just have been able to learn something about your broth-"

"Alright!" April interrupts the pointless conversation. "We get it. You where in _the zone_. What I want to know is _why_ you where in the zone."

"Huh? Oh yeah. I have to show you. Good thing you're here April, I could need your help with this."

"Okay. What's the matter?"

"This."

Donnie stops the conversation completely as he hold up all of the ultrasound pictures of Raphael's belly and baby in front of them. They just stare at them, wondering what the reason with this is.

"What is this?" Leo asks, killing the silence.

"Don't you see it?" Donnie asks, almost a little disappointed.

When they shake their heads he sighs and takes the pictures down and shows them one by one while talking.

"This is the picture from the first month and here this from the second - and so on and so on." he says and places the pictures on his desk. "Now, don't focus on what's inside of Raphael, but focus on the thing that's around it."

They stare at him, then the pictures for a while and then back at him again. _What is he talking about?_

"The shell?" Leo asks.

"Not really, but pretty close." Donnie says and leans over the pictures, preparing himself to explain. "Here, you can all see Raphael's hips, right?" They nod and wait for him to continue. "Raphael's hips are the exactly same size as they were before we knew he was pregnant - just as small as they were back then. Now, I've been reading a lot of pregnancy books that all tells me the same thing; one of the many reasons to why females is the only gender that can deliver babies are the extra space in their pelvis' and their extra wide hips. The Kraang may have been able to trespass some of these rules - like creating more space in the pelvis - but clearly not all of them... Raphael's still a male with small hips... which means he won't be able to deliver his daughter naturally when he reaches labor."

They stare at him in silence, thinking about what he just said, thinking that it makes sense that men aren't supposed or able to have children - still... there's something that isn't right about this.

"Okay..." Leo says. "I guess that makes sense... but why does this come as a surprise Donnie? How come you didn't see this sooner?"

"It's the female hormones that tricked me..." Donnie says. "The sudden increase in their system made it look like he was about to change his physical shapes and internal, which he has... just not as much as I first believed. It's like the hormones just decided to stop after some time, as if they were... _malfunctioning_."

...

Mikey listens to Raphael's breaths while he's resting in his bed. Donnie, Leo and April just explained the situation to him. He sure was glad when he heard that he wouldn't have to go through the labor like a normal mother-to-be have to, but he's been worried sick right after he understood that there was more or less no way for his daughter so see the light of day other than a cesarean birth. It's not that dangerous when humans do it... but turtles, that's a different kind of story. The shell is basically the turtles skeleton that keeps all of the internal organs inside of them and if it's removed... well... the turtle is more or less dead... and right now, that's the only option they have in order to make sure that Raelle will see the light of day.

"How are you feelin' bro?" He asks.

"I don't know..."

Knowing that he has to decide whether he or his daughter will survive the end of the pregnancy has made it impossible for Raph to think. All of his thoughts have stopped, like someone had hit pause in his head. Still, he's able to decide in his heart that he whishes his daughter to live - even if it will cost him his own... he just... needs time to prepare himself for it.

"Okay..." He says, suddenly and unexpected.

The other ones all stare at him as he starts to move around in his bed to get a better view of them. Even if they all heard what he just said, their minds didn't allow them to understand the meaning of the word. April is the first one to understand what he really said and walks up to him, places her hand on his shoulder and looks him in the eye.

"Don't worry." She says with a small smile. "It's a month into the future and now that Donnie is aware of the situation he'll do everything he can to come up with another alternative. And until then, you know that each and one of us will be here to help you through it all."

His green eyes stares at her, but he doesn't say a word to her. Being able to actually feel his worries and fears, April gives him a hug - not too tight, still strong enough for him to realize that she means it.

"Air..." He whispers into her ear, making her back away from him and the other ones approach. "I need air... fresh air..."

Donnie senses where this is going, but before he manages to disagree with his brother and turn his request down, April stands up and turns towards him.

"I know a park not too far away." She says. "It's not so big and not everyone's favorite. If we take the shellraiser we will be able to get there within half an hour."

Leo and Mikey turn towards Donnie. For one of the few times, his decision is the one that makes the matter, deciding whether or not they should do so. Rubbing his head as he feels all of the eyes stare at him, knowing the risk of the Kraang and the Foot, knowing the last request he might ever get from his brother...

"Okay."


	17. Chapter 17

**TMNT 2012**

 **Nightmares do come true**

 **part 1**

Splinter sits in the dojo, meditating as always, only now he meditates on the situation that keeps coming closer and closer. There's only two weeks left of Raphael's pregnancy and Donatello is still having some issues figuring out how to make the problem possible instead of impossible. He's managed to fix some hormone medicine for Raph that helps his hormone levels to work a bit better, but when it comes to the hips, that issue is still existing.

"What's the problem with that?" Casey says with a laugh. "You guys already have such wide hips, I don't see how that should be a problem."

"Which explains why you'd be a horrible scientist." Donnie says. "It's not a matter that our hips are wide compared to a human, it's that compared to our natural size, our hips aren't wide enough to go through this kind of dilemma."

"Dilemma." Casey laughs. "What a nice way to describe it."

Donnie sighs. Of all the people he has to deal with in his lab right now, it just has to be Casey Jones. Closing his eyes and remembering one of the many exercises Splinter have taught Raphael to help him control his temper. Not many know this – except for Splinter – but Raphael is not the only turtle with anger issues. Taking a deep breath, he tries his best to calm his mind, but to no use. He can still feel how Casey's glare burns in his skin and so he turns away to "check up on" something else. But that doesn't help either. All it does is making Casey follow him and annoy him even more.

"Y'know, I still don't understand why this is a problem." Casey continues as he starts playing with some sort of tool.

"Put that down."

"Y'know why? Because I remember seeing a program about a turtle that got a caesarian surgery and it went just fine."

"Put it down."

"You understand what I'm saying? If that tiny little turtle survived that kind of surgery, then why wouldn't Raph be able to? I mean, he is bigger, _in more than one way_."

Playing with the tool a little too much and it suddenly flies up in the air. All Casey can do is try and follow it with his glare, but then nothing more. It's just about to hit him in the face when Donnie reaches out and manages to catch it right as it touches Casey's nose. He puts the tool down back on the table further away from Casey without looking at him.

"See what happens when you don't do as I say?"

"Geez, calm down senpai. It's not very easy to make you pay attention to me y'know."

Donnie just glares back at him, giving him the dead look of I-do-not-care – but that only encourages Casey to do something else…

" _Notice me Seeenpaaai- Noooooticeee meeeeee!_ "

"Uuurghh…"

 _(And so Casey Jones cracks up, falling to the floor as he does, completely forgetting about the quite important discussion he just had with Donatello – even though he mostly had a monolog in Donatello's presence. Yes, it's completely gone. Gone. Out of his mind, out of his memory, never to be seen or heard of or thought of ever and ever again. It's gone. Even though the fact that this conversation might just have hold the key to save Raphael's life. To save little Raelle's life. And nonetheless, The Story Itself! Because I am the Author of this Story, and I can do_ _ **whatever**_ _I want to do with it! And so, I demand it to end! NOW!)_

"Seriously…"

 _(Meh, whatever)_

Casey crawls back up from the floor, stands up and faces Donnie.

"I mean, that turtle did survive the surgery. So, why wouldn't Raph?"

Now it's Donnie who faces Casey. He thinks about it for a moment and is sure he knows about the program Casey's talking about. In fact, he saw that program too. So, yes, he knows that it is possible for a turtle to survive that kind of surgery, but he also knows that the chances of the turtle surviving depend on the situation, environment and the amount sedative – _which isn't surprising, because every single kind of surgery depends on that,_ _and more_. Donnie knows that, he knows, he's a smart turtle. It's just one more thing that truly makes the matter in the situation. No matter how much they try and improve the environment – given that they are in the sewers after all which is filled with everything that's bad – even if it would be possible for them to do the surgery somewhere else. No matter how much the situation improves by… by… _I don't know – how would you be able to improve this situation?_ No matter how much Donnie studies and experiments to discover and find out just the right amount of sedative to use so that it won't get deadly or anything else. No matter how much they try to improve that, no matter how much, there's still one thing that truly makes the matter. _**Experience**_. Sure, you can study books, watch shows on the television, observe someone else do it and therefor get knowledge, but you'll never be able to do it correctly on the first tries. It doesn't matter how much you study, how many years you spend on studying on something, because you'll never be able to do it right unless you try it. Studying can only take you that far.

Casey looks at Donnie, sees how his expression turns from annoyed to dejected. That can only mean one thing, and for once, Casey tries his best not to be an annoying little brat.

"You know that too, don't you?" He says.

"Yes."

"So why don't you…?"

Donnie stops his talking by raising his hand and cover Casey's mouth. Once he's silent he removes his hand and explains everything to him. Everything about the environment, the situation, the knowledge, the sedative and the experience – that he doesn't have.

 _(Okay, look, I know that some of you might think that this isn't logical, that Donatello doesn't know how to perform a surgery on one of his brothers since they might have gotten real injured during their training at some time and I'm not gonna lie to you, but I agree. However, as much as I agree, I highly doubt that those kinds of surgeries involved carving your brother's belly wide open with a round-bladed saw and then dig out whatever is in there. I'm not sure if this information is old, but I remember watching a show that explained that surgeries that's around your organs – any of them – are the opposite of risk-free. One doctor even explained that if you – for an example – misplaces the intestines there's a risk that they stop functioning, which is bad - obviously. So, if we just think about that for a moment, maybe we'll be able to understand Donatello's fears of doing something wrong in that kind of situation, because they are different surgeries. I'm sorry if I seem angry or upset, I'm not, but I just want you to know the information and reasoning I have whilst writing this story the best way I can.)_

Casey stands next to Donnie, listening to everything he's telling him. He can understand the fear he's facing, why he's afraid to make mistakes in the middle of the surgery. For all he knows, if he does one mistake, it might cost them Raphael's life. And Raelle's.

"I just…" Donnie sighs. "…don't know what to do…"

"You can start by telling all of us." Leo's voice echoes through the lab.

 _(And another thing: You didn't seriously think that I meant what I said before, did you? I would never doom this story! I love this story! Love It! I would never be able to destroy little Raelle just like that! I love that baby to much! I love my little baby! Anyway. Back to the story. :D)_

Both Donnie and Casey jumps at Leo's sudden appearance in the lab and the conversation. He looks at them, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed – not in an aggressive way. Donnie meets his glance, feels how hos oldest brother is expecting an answer of some kind. He sighs. Maybe it's time to let them all know that he's unable to help in this situation, and that the best shot to take to save Raph's and Raelle's life is to… is to…

"Donatello." Splinter says behind Leonardo. "It is time to let us all know the burden you're forcing yourself to carry."

"H-hai… sensei…"

"Leonardo."

"Yes sensei?"

"Get your brothers and April. We will talk about this matter in the dojo."

"Hai sensei." Leo says and walks away to get the rest of the gang.

Splinter then turns towards Donatello and Casey. Donatello is looking down at the ground, a typical sign that there's a hideous truth hiding in his mind that they need to get out, or else it will eat his son up from the inside.

"Come my son." He calls out and walks towards the dojo.

Donnie and Casey slowly follows him to the dojo where the others are gathering as well. Splinter is already sitting on the floor, waiting for his sons and students to come join him. It goes slower than usual, given that Leo and Mikey are helping Raphael walk – even though he claims he doesn't need any help – into the dojo and to sit down without losing his balance on the way. Once they're all seated they bow, showing sensei that they're ready to be part of the meeting they've been called to. Or at least, almost all of them. Donatello is sitting on the floor and that is all. He's staring out into the nothingness that's all around them.

"So…" Raph starts when he feels that the silent is getting to him. "…what's going on?"

"I believe there is something important that Donatello needs to tell us." Splinter says.

"Important?" April asks. "What kind of important?"

Instead of giving her an answer, Splinter turns towards Donatello who's still seeking comfort in the empty nothing. He sighs as he slowly understands that the matter they're facing might be even worse than he first thought. It is rare for him to see his clever son in this state.

"My son." He says with a calm yet encouraging voice.

Donnie takes a deep breath. He knows he can't keep this a secret anymore, and no matter how horrible it may sound and is, it's their last hope. He stands up as he always does when he wants to be taken serious about something he needs to say. But right now, it's just plain routine. He can feel how all their stares burns in his skin as he wrecks his brain and mind to come up with the perfect opening for this information. But there is none. He keeps opening and closing his mouth as if he was trying to mimic a fish breathing under water. A sigh and he looks down at the floor. He must say it. Now.

"Donatello." Splinter says. "You do not have to carry this burden alone. Let us know so that we can help you."

"With… all due respect, sensei… but… you can't help." He finally says.

"Try us." Leo says, trying to make him keep talking.

Donnie looks down at him. He knows that Leo just wants to help, that they all just wants to help, but they don't know what he's about to tell them. _Come on Donnie, tell them already!_ He takes a deep breath and spits it all out.

"I… I have tried everything I can think of, everything that makes sense. I have..." He says and then turns to look at Raph. "I swear Raph, I've checked every single lead I could find, tested in every way I could, but it all leads to the same result…"

Raph looks at Donnie, wondering what the shell he's talking about. Yes, of course he knows that he's tried everything and that he's doing everything he can to help. That's nothing new. He knows that. So why is he…?

" _Raph I can't help you_."

The dojo was already silent before he said that line, but with everyone so focused on what Donnie is building up to, that line made the silence just ever so silent.

"I've checked everything. I've tried everything. But I can't help you."

"What are you talking about?" Raph says. "Of course you can! You're the smartest turtle in this world!"

"That still doesn't make it possible for me to save your life! Raph, listen. I can't help you. No matter how much I read, how much I study I'll never be able to save both of you. Barely any of you. I'll be lucky if any of you survive – _LUCKY!_ And I don't want to go for a plan where you need to trust in luck to succeed."

"Erm…" Casey says as he slowly raises his hand. "This doesn't happen to have something to do with the conversation I just had with you in the lab, does it?"

"Not really…" Donnie sighs. "…it just made me realize that the truth will find a way out sooner or later."

"What do you mean Donnie?" April asks.

"I can't help Raphael – not for lack of information because there is plenty of it – but for the lack of experience. I have never done anything like this, and even if I study 'hard enough' I will never truly know what to do in this kind of surgery. If I just had something to practice on then this wouldn't be so impossible, but it is… I'm sorry Raph, but I really can't help you."

Splinter looks at Donatello. So, this is the burden he's been carrying for all this time. No wonder why it's been eating him slowly from the inside. Killing a sigh of worry, he forces himself to smile at his son for being brave enough to confess this matter to everyone. For now, that they all know about it, they'll be able to understand and help.

"Geez, Donnie." Raph says. "This is what you've been trying to say for all this time?"

"Y-yes?"

"Donnie, I may not be a genius, but I kind of figured this would be difficult, if not impossible."

"How can you stay so calm? Don't you know what this means?!"

"Of course I do. It means that…" Raph pauses for a moment before forcing himself to finish the line. "…it means that we have to choose who is going to live. Me or Raelle."

"Aww!" Mikey interrupts. "You're calling her by the name I chose."

The important conversation takes a small break as Raphael smacks Michelangelo in the head for bringing such a stupid comment into the important conversation. And then Raphael turns back to stare Donatello in the eyes.

"Of course I know what this means." He says. "But I also know you. I know that you wouldn't just give up in this kind of situation. So, what's the deal?"

Donnie looks at Raph. Every time it amazes him, just how good he is at reading people, not to mention his own brothers. Still, even he can't possibly have the mental ability to read minds, or else he wouldn't be so darn calm right now.

"The deal is this, Raph." Donnie says. " _ **I**_ can't help you. But I know who can."

"And who might that be?"

"Before I say that, I need you to know that I've done everything I can…"

"Oh for Pete's sake! Just say it!"

"It's the Kraang."

Now the tension in the dojo changes dramatically as the true truth to why Donnie's been so – how should we put it…? down? – is revealed. He can't help or save his brother's life. The only ones who can do that, with all things considered, are the Kraang – the ones who started all of this _(If you ignore me who came up with the story)._ No one says a word as they try to understand what Donnie just said, and what he's suggesting right now.

"…Donnie…" April says. "Are… are you saying…?"

"The only ones who are capable of saving both Raph's and Raelle's life is the Kraang." He says. "I'm sorry… but it's the only way. We have to return Raphael to them so that they can…"

" _Carve me wide open?!_ " Raph yells. "And just what are you meaning with 'return me to them'?"

"Raph, I'm sorry! But it's the only option we have!"

"Well I'm not doing it! I'm not going to let them get their hands on my daughter! Not now, not ever!"

"If you don't do it then both of you will die!" Donnie fights himself, doing his best not to get angry at his brother for reacting this way. "I can't help you Raph! I can't help Raelle! I just…can't…"

" _You've just gonna have to try then!_ "

"Raphael!" Splinter says. "Your brother has given you an answer to your question. And even if it may not have been an answer any of us whished for, he still gave us the truth."

"I know that sensei! But I'm not going to sit here and let him force me do to something I know is a clear threat to my daughter!"

"And nor will he be. The decision is yours, Raphael, no matter what Donatello may say. You are the one who decides what to do next."

"Thank you, sensei!"

And with that conversation over, Raphael forces himself up on his feet and walks straight out the dojo, refusing the helping hands that are offered to him. He walks as fast as he can back to his room and slams the door behind him. Finally, alone, in peace. Well, at least he's in peace, but there's someone who isn't. Fighting furiously around herself, Raelle makes it clear to her daddy that she has something to say in this situation as well. Forcing him to sit down and pet her, he eventually takes a few deep breaths to calm his temper and focus on her once again. As he strokes his own belly to calm his upset daughter, he spots the teddy bear Mikey brought him just the other night as a gift for keeping nightmares away. Holding his arm around his belly as he bends down to pick it up, he places the teddy on his lap, letting it lay down on his arms as its head rests in his hands. With Raelle calming down, Raph feels how the situation is slowly sinking in. His mind slowly turning the teddy bear into a tiny little turtle that smiles back up at him. Big green eyes, big smile and cute sounds echoing in the room. His dark, warm, safe room. His nest where he's going to keep her for all time. Where he's going to keep her warm and safe. Keep her away from all the dangers out in the world. Just like sensei kept them safe and warm as kids. He's going to raise her just as well as his father raised him… sinking deeper and deeper into his mind. He slowly remembers what Donnie _really_ said to him before. ' _I can't save both of you. I can barely save any of you.'_

"Y-you know what that means, right?" He whispers. "It means… that if I live, you won't… I'll be sitting here every day for the rest of my life… mourning. And if you live, then I won't… then you'll spend the rest of your life… mourning… wondering… about the father you never met… the father you'll only be able to see on pictures… the turtle with a frown on every picture… and you'll be wondering why I was so angry all the time… and if I even loved you… if I ever wanted you… you'll be… wondering…"

Holding the teddy bear in his hands as carefully as he can, he slowly raises it to his face and pretends that it's the baby giving his face a hug. He takes a deep breath, catching the scent of the teddy, imagining the laughter of a baby as he breaths out. Then he puts the teddy down, back on his lap and pets its head.

"I love you, Raelle. I really do." He whispers. "Please… please don't believe anything else."

Donnie sits on his usual chair in his lab. He's staring out into the empty nothingness once more and this time, he doesn't plan on leaving it. Not even for all the attention April's trying to give him for the moment. She's worried, he knows that, but that still doesn't help him to think… as awful as it sounds, it just doesn't. He feels how she carefully places her hand on his shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze. No reaction.

"How's he doing?" Leo asks from behind.

"Worse than Raph, I'm sure." She answers. "He just doesn't care about anything I do."

"Don't take that personally. You know that Donnie cares for you."

"I know." She sighs.

"It's just… it's hard for us all to deal with this, but Donnie's always been the one to take the blame when it has something to do with science or anything like that."

"It shows."

 _(For the Apriltello fangirls! xD That will be later in the story though. Hang in there!)_

The two friends try to comfort Donnie best they can, but nothing helps. He's still far away, and he has decided not to come back for a while. They keep on trying until they hear the door to the lab open slowly. As they turn around they see Casey trying to force the door open as much as he can and then Raph walking in with Mikey right by his side. They walk up to April and Leo before Mikey allow Raph to walk on his own. Leo follows his hotheaded brother with his glance for a moment, noticing that his attitude has changed quite a lot.

Raph walks up towards Donnie, who's still sitting on his chair and spacing out. At first, he just looks at him, waiting for him to see him and give some sort of response to his presence. Nothing. He waits for a little longer until he gets tired of it and grabs his brother's cheek and forces his head to turn towards him. Donnie slowly returns to reality and looks up at Raph who's still holding a firm grip to his face. As soon as they make eye contact Donnie stares down at the floor, preparing himself for being yelled at again. He doesn't try to fight it since he feels that he deserves it. But nothing happens. Raph doesn't move a muscle, even if he's a little tempted to give his brother a small smack on his head for believing that the first thing he's going to do is beat up his brother. But he doesn't. He's not here to fight, he's here to talk.

"I want her to live." He says.

The small line is enough for making Donnie curious enough to look back up and regain eye contact with his hotheaded brother. They all wait for Raph to continue, but he makes sure that Donnie is truly listening before he does.

"I don't want her to die. But I don't want her to grow up without a father, and with just uncles. I don't want her to only being able to see me on pictures and always wondering why I'm always angry, why I never bothered to smile on camera. If I ever wanted her or loved her." He takes a break, takes a breath and continues. "I want to see her grow up, I want to be able to hug her, raise her… I just… want her to be happy, to have a father who loves her… I can't do that if I'm dead… I can't do that if she's dead… the only way for me to do that is if we're both alive… but I don't want to force you to do something you don't want to do."

"Raph…" Donnie says. "Are… are you…?"

"Take me to the Kraang." Raph says and feels how everyone around him is drawing their breaths. "Just… just make sure to have plan on how to get me back before they try and do something crazy to her."

"Raph, are you sure about this?"

"I'm the strongest turtle in the world, I think I'll be able to handle a few Kraang."

 _(Note: He's the strongest turtle in the world, because Slash isn't in the world yet. That reminds me… have I ever mentioned Spike in this story? I think I might have forgotten about him…)_

"Yes, but right now you're also the roundest turtle in the world."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I'm just saying that it's going to be harder to handle them in that size."

He feels like laughing, but Donnie doesn't seem to be joking about this, so he decides not to. After everything he's been going through during these months, these awfully long weeks, it's no wonder why everyone is a little tense about the idea of letting him handle himself in the heart of the Kraang's nest – or whatever you wish to call it. They've always been there for him, been there to help him with everything and anything without asking for his permission to do so. It's been quite annoying sometimes, not being able or allowed to do anything on your own, however in this dilemma he understands their worry. He's worried too. Of all the things that he wishes for his daughter, this is not one of them. This is by far his worst nightmare coming true. But if it's what he has to do in order to save her life, then so be it. He leans a little closer to his taller brother – who's still sitting down, thankfully – and lays his hand on his shoulder.

"As long as you're able to come up with a plan to get me out of there, I'll be fine." He says.

Donnie looks at him, still a little – I mean, a lot – unsure about this idea, even though he's the one who "came up" with it. He scans Raph's face, searching for some sort of clue that his brother really doesn't want to do this and that he hates him for this whole situation. But there's nothing there that suggests that. Which means…

"I already have." He says.

A smile spreads across Raph's face. He knew that he could count on his tall brother. As Donnie finally gets up from his chair, the gang gathers together to listen to what he's been planning. They follow every movement he does as he shows them sketches of tiny searching devices that he's planning on putting under Raph's shell – somehow – so that they can find him wherever he may go. He also shows them a tiny microphone he's been planning to put all around the sewer system as a part of security, but given the situation, they may also work as a "spy" as the Kraang takes Raph to the heart of their base.

With all the "gadgets" shown to the gang, he then turns towards Leo for help with completely figuring out the plan in exact detail and to consider possibly errors that might occur. Soon each member of the teenage mutant ninja turtle gang is involved with the creation of the plan. They talk so loud that it's hard for Splinter not to get curious and stay away. He listens carefully to what each of them are saying and what they're talking about.

"Wait!" Mikey suddenly bursts out, making everyone go silent and stare at him. "What if the Kraang has done the same thing to us! They know where we are and now they're hearing everything we say and will be prepared for anything we're planning for!"

"If they've known where Raph's been for all this time, then why would they have waited this long to get him back?" Donnie asks.

"Because that's part of their plan! They've been waiting all this time to make us believe they don't know where we are and that they can't hear anything we say so that they can come in the last moment and destroy us all!"

"…riiiiight… Well… lucky for us I have already checked that possibility and can guarantee you that, that isn't correct."

"-Phew!-"

"You know what Donnie; Mikey might actually have a point." Leo says.

"Oh yea?"

"Well, maybe not about… everything. But there is a possibility that the Kraang is aware of the situation to the point that they know we won't have a choice but to 'hand Raph over' to them for him to live."

"I'm aware of that. That's why we need to be as prepared for anything as possible."

"We also need to inform Splinter about this." April says. "If there's anyone who can help when a plan fails it's him."

"Right. I'll go talk to him."

"No need, my son. I am already informed."

Splinter makes his way into the dojo and helps his children prepare themselves for anything that might get in their way and what they might be able to do to make something get in the way of the Kraang. Even though he's sure Donatello and Leonardo will be able to make a watertight plan up together, he's also sure that they're appreciating him being there for them.

Hours passes as they all figure out as much as they can about the TCRI building – which is the location that makes the most sense for the Kraang to put Raph in as soon as they get their hands on him – and makes sure that everyone is aware of all the hiding spots that's in the building and that might be useful for when they're getting both Raph and Raelle out of there. Of course, they're also prepared that the Kraang might move Raph and are also checking out some of the smaller hideouts they have – that the turtles are aware of. Then the plan is complete. It's time to act. As soon as Donatello is done with the tracing chip and has placed it and the microphone in Raph's shell, it's time to set the ball in rolling and hope for the best.

 _(And that's where I'm going to end this chapter. Wow, it's been quite a while since I've uploaded anything, and it feels good yet a little strange being back here. I hope however that this chapter will be satisfying for everyone and that it will please you – and hopefully help you to forgive me for being away this long. I never wanted you to have to wait this long for the next chapter! I hope that you like it being longer than usual – I am planning on making the rest of the chapters at this length, if it turns out good that is._

 _I also want you to know that after being away this long, when I first saw my story again after all this time, I kind of want to make a makeover. What I'm trying to say is that I want to delete the story and then just start all over again and try my best to do it better, because I just feel that what I've been uploading before isn't worthy all the 'likes' and 'reviews' that say how good it is – because it's quite awful, to me it is. However, I will not do any of this if you don't want me to. It's just how I currently feel about this story after spending so much time away from it. I just think that little Raelle deserves a story better than this. And you. I'm not going to change the whole story, just improve it, make the chapters longer and more detailed and not so… amateur. But just like I said, I'm not going to force any of you through that if it turns out that you want the story to continue the way it has before. I just wanted you to know how I feel about it._

 _Anyway. Hope you like the chapter! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! It really helps me improve the story and make it more appealing and enjoyable to everyone who reads it. Thanks for reading and I'll upload the next chapter as soon as I can! It will probably be by the end of November, but hopefully a little sooner than that.)_


	18. Chapter 18

**TMNT 2012**

 **Nightmares do come true**

 **part 2**

 _It's …_

The gadgets are ready. The plan is complete. The minds are set. The field is prepared.

Everyone is silent as they head into the Shellraiser, no one allows their focus to be broken. There's no time for that. Splinter stands by the rails as he watches his children prepare themselves to head into the lion's den. They know what they're doing. They know what they're getting themselves into. They know the risks they're taking. They know that there's no other way. There's no other way. No other way to save them both. Except for this.

Raphael sits in the middle of the Shellraiser, surrounded by his brother and Casey. April sits right next to him, ready to face the battle at his side. At first, she was advised not to come with them, since the Kraang might find the temptation far too strong to resist, and take her as well. That's when she said that was her plan with it all. Being there would lead the Kraang to no option but to let Raphael have a person from his side with him – if there would only have been the turtles or Casey, they wouldn't let anyone come with Raph. They would've known that it was a setup. Now, they won't have a choice, even if they do understand that it's a setup.

The heart is pounding. The head is hurting. The mind is breaking. The fear is growing.

Shutting his eyes close, Raphael does everything he can to think about something else. He imagines how things could have been different, how everything would have been so much different if he hadn't been so stupid and lead his brothers into that ridiculous trap the Kraang had prepared for them. _Seriously! It was a silly trap! A stupid trap!_ So, all in all, it seems he really deserves this kind of punishment.

A silent but heavy sigh escapes him and he suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder. April looks at him as he looks up at her. With a smile on her lips and her psychic powers, she still doesn't know how much that means for him, that she's right there for him. Not in a romantic way, but just that she's ready to help a friend out like this, just like that. He smiles at her, feeling a little better knowing that he's not going through this on his own. They both look up ahead as the Shellraiser slowly starts moving to their greatest test in their lives – _so far_.

The heart is pounding. The head is hurting. The mind is breaking. The fear is growing. _But he's not alone._

… _time…_

"Well, well, well!" Kraang subprime smiles as he talks to the Shredder on the big screen. "I've just heard that the turtles are heading this way. Seems like we won't have to do the hunting after all. We just have to sit here and wait for the pray to come running into our arms, seeking help from us. And it's all because of that tiny little error you wanted to blame us for."

" _Don't flatter yourself_." Shredder growls back at him. " _The actions of the turtles are nothing but mere luck._ "

"Why do you always have to be so darn negative about everything? Can't you just enjoy the moment for once and realize that even though the plan didn't work out exactly as planned, it still turned out better than we first hoped for?"

" _Disrespectable, alien fool! Do you really think that I wouldn't rejoice if everything worked out better than expected? Just because the turtles weren't able to fix your error doesn't mean everything has worked out to our advantage._ "

"That is very true. But I must point out that we are ready to correct our little error as soon as they hand over Raphael to us."

" _Let's hope so, because if you were to fail, things would get… ugly_."

"Save your human threats to someone who's actually scared about empty words."

" _Empty words? Well, how empty are these words for you? I'm sending Karai over to you along with some of my best soldiers, just to make sure everything turns out just as you have told me._ "

"Waste of reinforcement."

" _If she reports back the smallest of errors or the smallest of change in anything she cares about to notice, you will no longer be needed to me. Understood?_ "

"Yeah, yeah, understood."

" _We'll see_." The big screen goes black as the Shredder signs off.

"Big bully."

… _for…_

"So, you want me to go over and babysit them for you?" Karai says with a very skeptical tone on her voice.

"I want you to make sure they stick to every single promise they've made and report everything back to me." Shredder explains. "If they do anything we haven't agreed of, if anything doesn't work out the way they've said…"

"…then I have to remind them of who they're working for?"

"Yes. Now, go!"

With a nod, Karai leaves the Shredder in the lair and brings the soldiers he's chosen to accompany her. On the way, she can't help but to think and wonder just where the turtles are right now. Shredder said the Kraang sub-prime had told him that they were on their way, but she can't see them anywhere. Maybe they've already made it to the TCRI building? If that's the case she really needs to hurry up!

"Foot soldiers!" She yells behind her. "Move it!"

… _the…_

They're right outside the TCRI building, waiting for any kind of signal, any kind of sign that they've been expected. Donnie checks all the cameras on the Shellraiser, points them all towards the building's different ways in, trying to see something that means they can just walk in without a fight. Then…

"Here they come!" He says, prepares everyone for the loud knocking on the door, right by April and Raphael.

Leo makes his way to the door, but before he opens it he also makes sure everyone is ready to go out and to be ready for everything. He draws a sigh and opens the door. There are five different Kraang-droids waiting for them outside the Shellraiser. Keeping eye contact with all of them, Leo walks slowly out of the Shellraiser, followed by Donnie, Mikey, Casey, Raph…

"It is the one known as Raphael, also known as the one who was experimented on by the ones known as Kraang."

…and then for the last, April walks out of the Shellraiser. She stands behind Raphael but still makes sure the Kraang-droids can see her. All five of them stares at her and at Raphael, then the first one turns towards Leonardo with no expression on his face – like always.

"That is what the Kraang would like to call; clever."

"Thanks." Leo says back. "Are you clever enough to make this a deal?"

"The thing that the one known as you wish to call 'a deal' is something the one known as Kraang is not allowed to do. Only the one known as Kraang subprime is the one who can do the thing that the one known as you call 'a deal'."

"Ermm… what?"

"The ones known as the turtles and the one known as April O'Neil and the one known as random human bloke is to meet the one known as Kraang subprime to talk about the thing the one known as you just called 'a deal'."

"' _Random human bloke'?!_ " Casey protests loudly. "The name's Casey Jones, you moron! You better remember that!"

"Then allow the one known as Kraang to rephrase what the one known as Kraang just said to the one known as Leonardo."

"Go ahead." Leo says as he facepalms himself.

"The ones known as the turtles and the one known as April O'Neil and the one known as Casey Jones is to meet the one known as Kraang subprime to talk about the thing the one known as you just called 'a deal'."

"Wow." A way to familiar voice echoes behind them and as they all turn around they know they should have expected this after all. "I don't know what the saddest part of this is: What he just said or that you just allowed him to say it twice."

She walks out of the shadows from the alley she hid in and brings out all the Foot-clan soldiers with her so that everyone can see that she came prepared, just in case anyone tries anything. With a smile that could kill, she observes the rare view of the turtles having a conversation to the Kraang. _Speaking of rare view._

"Seems like one of you gained a few pounds." She says as she glares at Raphael's big round belly.

"It is the one known as Karai, also known as daughter to the one known as the Shredder."

"You don't have to say that every time, you know."

"Who's the chic with badass attitude?" Casey asks as he inspects Karai from afar.

"You've got to have way more teeth than that to impress me." She says back at him. "Or rather, to impress anyone."

"That's cold dude." Casey whispers to April.

"I told you."

"Spreading rumors about me, redhead?" Karai says at April's comment.

"Nope, just been telling the truth about you."

"And how did that go?"

" _Children! Children!_ " Donnie suddenly ends the awkward conversation between the three enemies. "I don't know if anyone is thinking about it, but the longer we're standing out here talking the more time we lose to fix all of this!"

"Wasting time, eh?" Karai says as she stares at the Kraang-droids. "The Shredder's gonna be thrilled to hear that, I can tell you."

"The one known as Kraang was just informing the ones known as the turtles and the one known as April O'Neil and the one known as Casey Jo-"

"Just bring us there, will you?!" Karai snaps.

If there's one thing she can't stand it's to hear these idiots talk and never being able to finish a sentence because of the way they talk! The Kraang-droids stare at her before they turn around and walks back to the TCRI building, leaving the Foot soldiers to make sure the turtles and company follows. Karai stands a little up ahead, observing the turtle gang as they walk passed her. She smiles when she sees Leo searching eye contact with her, for some reason. He always does that.

"Karai."

"Leonardo."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why not?"

He sighs and walks passed her, letting his glare drop down to the ground in front of him. _Yeah, why not?_ She follows him with her glare for a moment but looks away as Donnie and Mikey walks by her, sharing the same unsure stare at her as Leo did. When they think they're out of hearing reach they start talking to each other.

"Is she going to be on our side ever, D?"

"I don't know Mikey. I hope so."

She stares sharp back at them as she hears what they're talking about. They don't seem to notice her noticing though, they just continue their way towards the building, leaving her there to think about the simple question Michelangelo asked. _(The plan with Mikey's question is that all the turtles, master Splinter, April and Casey already know that Karai really is Miwa, Splinter's daughter. I just haven't had the time or mind or opportunity to put that in the story with words, so I'm just going to say that they found out about Karai being Miwa before this story ever started.)_ Her mind is too busy with the question that she forgets to check on Casey Jones and April as they walk by her. She snaps herself back to reality when she realizes they've just gone passed her and focuses on Raphael. He's not far behind, they're still walking in a group, he's just in the back of it. With a smile on her lips she decides to walk right next to him, because, you know, _reasons_. He growls at her when he sees her walk right by him.

"What do you want?" He asks.

"Nothing." She says. "It's just been a really long time since I've seen your big head around."

"Save your breath, princess."

She smiles at his comment and walks slower so that she'll be falling behind, buying herself time to talk to the Foot soldiers, letting them know what the Shredder wants them to do and what she's planning to do.

… _experiment…_

Kraang subprime smiles when he sees all the turtles being led to the center of the lab along with April O'Neil and some _random human bloke_. The smile fades away however when Karai walks in after the turtles with the Foot soldiers the Shredder promised to send to them. He's really keen to be part of everything they're doing, isn't he? But that's not going to be an issue. For as much as he hates to admit it, it's going to be quite the help that they will need in case the turtles try something. _As much as he hates to admit it._

"Welcome, welcome turtles." He says loudly once they've all reached the center of the lab. "Welcome, to the end of your lives."

Laughing at his own comment and sending the Kraang-droids after the turtles, the turtles read all the signs and draws their weapons, even April and Casey – not Raphael though. They're all ready to attack and defend themselves when Karai stops it all without moving from where she's standing.

"I hope you're joking about this." She says louder that subprime did. "Because if you're not, the Shredder is not going to be happy. In fact, he's going to be furious."

"Oh?" Subprime turns his attention towards her. "I thought he wanted the turtles destroyed?"

"He wants to destroy them for himself. With his own hands." She continues as she walks and stands in the Kraang-droids way to reach them. "If you destroy them, then he's going to come after you, to destroy _you_ instead."

Subprime orders truce and all the Kraang-droids puts their guns down and backs away. Crossing her arms and smiling for herself, Karai remains in front of everyone to make sure no Kraang-droids tries to do anything. She remains where she's standing for the rest of the time, keeping all the attention on her as some of her Foot soldiers starts to wonder off, without anyone noticing. No one notice, except for April. Sensing the change of flow in the room, she realizes what Karai really is doing but doesn't see how she's able to stop it or warn the turtles without letting both the Kraang and the Foot know that she knows. In the meantime, Kraang subprime and Leonardo starts talking about the deal that's about to be offered to one another.

"So, you finally figured out that we are the only ones who can help Raphael." Subprime says. "And you brought April O'Neil too, just so that we would have no other choice but to let him have a friend alongside him during his… _revisit_."

"I take it as if you're ready to make a deal?" Leo says.

"Aaah! It's a deal that you want. Tell me, what exactly do you want as a deal?"

"We let April and Raphael remain here, in your hands up until the baby is born, then we take them all back. They have given me permission to inform you that they're willing to let you perform experiments on them…"

"Is that so?"

"…but as the leader of our gang, I want you to know that we'll be checking up on you every now and then, and if I see anything that I consider unacceptable, the deal is off."

"I know that I'm not part of this 'deal' of yours…" Karai suddenly interrupts. "…but I can't help but wonder what you guys think is unacceptable. So, please tell me."

Leo looks at her for a moment before he continues to talk to subprime about the deal. He tries to make out what she's really doing there. Obviously, this Kraang experiment has a connection with the Shredder, or else she wouldn't have been allowed in here by the Kraang. But what is the reason for the Shredder to be interested in this mess?

"Well…" Leo starts. "…for starters, it would not harm to tune down on the Foot-clan visits." He can see Karai's reaction to his comment and hear her little fake giggle. "And for second, you are not to cause either April, Raphael or Raelle any sort of harm!"

"Raelle?" Subprime asks, making the weirdest of faces as he says it. "Who is Raelle?"

"You _named_ it?" Karai says half laughing as she realizes who they're talking about. "But it's an experiment. A _freak_."

" _She's my daughter._ " Raphael growls at her.

"D'aaw! Little papa Raphael is going to have a baba?"

He's about to run up to Karai and beat the crap out of her when April grabs his arm and pulls him gently back again. He looks at her with a fire in his eyes that she senses clearly and she fully understands why, but right now is not the right time for that. He both shouldn't and can't do anything about it right now.

"Don't let her get to you Raph." She says as she steps between the two rivals. "I'll deal with her for you."

"Bring it girl. That is, if you've got the guts."

" _Enough!_ " Leo growls at all of them, making all of them stop and stare straight back at him. "Raph! April! Stay over there! Don't do anything until I say so! Karai. You better not do anything to tick me off right now!"

"Hmph!" Karai smiles back at him and doesn't do anything as April and Raph follows his orders and steps back.

"Thirdly." Leo says as he stares back at subprime. "They get to keep all of their equipment. They're going to stay in touch with us 24/7. Fourthly, no decision is made without us being informed about it first and we'll be the ones who decides if we're to do anything."

"You're a tough dealer, Leonardo." Subprime says with a big smile. "But I think we'll be able to live with that. _Deal_."

Leonardo and Subprime shakes hand/tentacle as they settle the deal at last. This is truly going to be a challenge for all of them, all the enemies. The Foot, the Kraang, the Turtles. Yes. This will truly be a challenge for all of them, to not be allowed to attack one another as soon as they see each other, until the baby is born.

… _to…_

Leo takes a deep breath when he thinks about what he's just done. He's allowed his worst enemies to take care of the two – soon three – people that he cares the most about, with the assumption that they're going to keep their promise not to cause them any harm. Of course, they're not going to keep that promise, that's why he's going to send at least two of the team over here every single day just to be on the safe side. That's the least he can do to keep his family safe. But it still doesn't feel like it's enough. He kills a sigh as he sits down at the steering wheel in the Shellraiser, waiting for the rest of the remaining team to get inside so that they can go home. He's got a very bad feeling about this, but he knows that he's not the only one who has it.

"Man!" Mikey burst out as soon as the doors are closed behind him. "This sucks! We can't just leave them there! Who knows what's gonna happen to them?!"

"Relax Mikey." Donnie says from his station. "Don't you remember anything from when we prepared for this? We know about the risks, but we also know what to do if anything shows signs to go wrong."

"Yeah, don't worry Mikey." Casey says and places an arm around his shoulders. "Besides, Leo's the one who planned all of this and you should know what kind of plans he's able to come up with. They'll be out of there in no time! Right Leo?"

Silence. Casey waits for the answer from Leo to help him and Donnie to calm Mikey down, the cheerful answer from their fearless leader that knows exactly what to do in any kind of situation. But there's not coming anything. Nothing but dead silence. The three friends stare at him, worried about him. They know that it must be tough to be the leader, to be the one who makes all the decisions and sacrifices no matter what form they come in – or who. They know that it must be tough… but they don't know how tough.

"Yeah…" He says with a dead voice. "They'll be fine."

… _give…_

"Karai." Shredder says when Karai walks up towards his throne and knees before him. "Report."

"The turtles delivered Raphael just as the Kraang said. "She starts. "But surprisingly, the Kraang where foolish enough not to consider the possibility that the turtles would think about offering them April O'Neil at the same time, leaving them no choice but to let the turtles have a second player on their playground."

"The Kraang accepted that offer?"

"Why of course they did. From what I could tell, she's a real hot missing piece that they need to continue anything they've been planning in like, ever. They gave up to that temptation faster than you use your blades in a battle."

"I see." Shredder says and stands up from his throne and walks towards the window that lets him see the view of the TCRI building. "Truly a foolish alien lifeform."

"Can you remind me of why we're allies with them again?"

"They hold the most powerful weapon in the universe, surprisingly. With it I can force the world to do whatever I desire it to do."

"Like destroying the turtles and Splinter?"

"Exactly."

He continues to stare at the TCRI building for a few seconds before he turns around and faces his daughter as she walks up the steps to his throne. When she notice him staring at her she stops walking and waits for him to say whatever it is that he's about to say.

"Tell me…" He says. "…did you do as I ordered you?"

"Of course I did."

"Good."

… _result._

April walks right next to Raphael. The Kraang are taking them – by the orders from subprime – to the rooms they'll be living in for the next week. Kind of like a hotel, only you sleep with your enemies. The echoing sounds from the Kraang-droids is slowly making her sick. She knows that she volunteered for this, that she suggested it from the beginning so that Raphael wouldn't have to deal with all this on his own, but it still doesn't stop her from being freaked out by all of it. She tightens her fists the longer they walk into the TCRI building. It's impossible for her to tell where they are, everything looks exactly the same and they've been walking for what feels like ages. They might even be walking in circles for all she knows. But then they stop. The three Kraang-droids in the lead is turning around and… that's it. They don't do anything.

"Erm…" April starts and glances at Raph.

"Don't look at me. I don't know what they're doing." He says.

"The Kraang has escorted the two members of the ones known as the turtles to where the two members of the ones known as the turtles is to stay for their visit."

"Why didn't you just say so?" Raph complains. "And where is where?"

"The one known as Raphael is to stay in the cell to the what is known as right as the one known as April O'Neil is to stay in the cell to the what is known as left."

Giving each other one final skeptical glance, the two friends walk into their cells and watches as the Kraang closes the doors behind them. The doors have a purplish window that allows them to have some sort of view of the outside world – if the TCRI building is considered as the outside world, that is. Starting to look around in the cell, all April can see is a bed and a small table that's not used for anything. Maybe it's supposed to be a dinner table? When it comes to the Kraang, who knows?

" _April?_ " Raph's voice suddenly echoes in her cell and makes her jump in surprise. " _Come in April!_ "

She searches through her handbag – still surprised that the Kraang allowed her to keep it, but then again, it's just a small piece of the deal they made that they get to keep all their stuff – before she manages to find the walky-talky that Donnie prepared them with. Raph keeps on calling on her, getting more and more frustrated and angry by the sounds of it.

" _April? Are you there?!_ "

"Yes!" She yells once she finds the right button to press. "Pardon me for not finding the walky-talky in time for you to yell at me."

" _Sorry_." He says, sounding much calmer. " _Just thought for a moment that they took your stuff without telling._ "

"It's ok. So, how's your cell looking?"

" _It's the saddest thing I've seen in a lifetime. How about you?_ "

"Same."

They keep on small-talking to get time moving a little faster, just so that this will be over much sooner. From what she can understand, they will be here for give or take ten days, or something like that, and that's a long time to be surrounded by your enemies. She pulls a sigh and thinks about what they'll be going through during this time. How many experiments are they going to suffer through? Even if she clearly remembers Leo telling subprime that they're not allowed to hurt them, she has no problem imagining them doing just that anyway. As scary as that is, she still can't imagine how awful Raph must be feeling right now.

He pulls a sigh and pets his belly. So, they're finally here then. Finally… _finally…?_ He sighs and brushes the dust out of his eyes. His belly hurts, but that's his own fault. Little Raelle is not responsible for any of this. Poor girl, she's just the result of all of this, and yet she's the one who's going to pay the most for it. As if she knows that he's worried about her, Raph feels how she starts moving and causes him a kind of pain that is sort of comfortable. It helps with the pain from his worried aching belly anyway.

"Thanks hon." He says and strokes his belly a little harder. "Thank you."

A mental picture echoes through his head as he watches the belly move. A picture of the same little turtle baby turning to her back in his arms and smiles as she looks him in the eyes. Man, does he love his little baby. _You named it?_ Karai's voice echoes through his mind. _But it's an experiment._ He feels how his worries turns into anger as he remembers what Karai said about his daughter. _A freak!_ His growl echoes in the cell, making it sound a lot louder than it is, and he covers his face with his hands as his mind uncontrollably repeats everything Karai said over and over and over again. It gives him a headache to know that that's all his daughter is going to be to the world. _An experiment. A freak. Just like him._

" _Raph?_ " April's voice echoes through the walky-talky. " _Are you okay?_ "

"I'm fine."

" _Are you sure? Cause I can sense whatever you feel._ "

"I know."

The cells are silent again as the conversation dies. They sit down on the bed and think about everything they've been through before all of this happened. Just think how much different everything would have been if they would have escaped before the Kraang managed to pull the experiment on him, or if they did the experiment on one of his brothers instead of him. Then what would have happened? Would it still have ended like this? One of the turtles and April being locked away in a cell? Maybe. Probably.

" _Karai did something._ " April says.

"Karai does a lot of things."

" _Yes, but this time… she did something… when she stepped in the way for the Kraang-droids… she did something._ "

"She did? Like what?"

" _I'm not sure… but I could sense something happening as she stepped in the way. Something with the Foot soldiers she brought… it just can't have been a coincident!_ "

Raph's just about to answer April's concerning report when a loud voice from above speaks in both of their cells. It takes a little while before both of them sees the perfectly disguised loudspeaker the Kraang has attached in one of the corners, probably so that they'll be able to speak to them, and maybe so that they'll be able to hear everything they say.

" _Well then._ " Kraang subprime's voice echoes through the loudspeaker. " _Now that the two of you are all alone in our hands, I just wanted to update you for what we've planned for you during this visit. You know, as a_ _ **friendly gesture**_ _now that we're_ _ **not enemies**_ _, for the moment. For the first three days, we will examine and prepare Raphael's body and insides to find what's not in order and then fix it. In the meantime, dear little April O'Neil is going to go through a lot of tests to see just how much her powers have improved and to see how we can improve them even more. Have a nice day!_ "

"Yeah, right." Raph mumbles as subprime stops talking over the loudspeaker. "Have a nice day."

Subprime smiles as he watches the cameras they installed in the cells. Neither of them are doing anything, which is great since he thought that the first thing they would do was try and escape. But maybe they're foolish enough to believe the Kraang will keep their words and do exactly as the turtles told them to. Maybe. Or maybe they're planning something? Or maybe they're following a plan they've already have figured out before they got here? Or maybe they don't have a plan at all? No matter what the case is, the Kraang are in control of the situation.

"Everything has worked out according to plan." Subprime says with a smile. " _It's time for the experiment to give result._ "

 **Day 1**

Raphael checks his surroundings as he lays down on the weird and extremely cold metallic table the Kraang has prepared for him in the lab. They forced him to take off all his gears and bandages so that they would get the best possible sight through their highly-developed X-rays… _or whatever that huge camera thing is_. He lays down on the table and follows the big, white camera with his eyes as it slowly moves all around him, checking every inch of his body, which is making him feel very, very awkward. Even if he's got a shell to cover himself up, he still feels naked without his bandages. Given the technology they must have used to build that camera, he doesn't fully understand why he still had to take off everything he wore – even his bandanna!

"Are you done soon?" He asks once his patience finally reaches bottom.

He doesn't get an answer, but it seems as if the camera is moving a little faster than before, which is always something. A few minutes later and the camera disappears up through the ceiling where it came from, leaving Raphael on the table to deal with himself. Another minute later and a Kraang-droid enters the room.

"Are we done?" Raph asks and sits up but is forced down again as the Kraang-droid reaches him.

"The one known as Raphael must stay down on the thing known as the table so that the one known as Kraang can give the serum to the one known as Raphael."

"What kind of serum?"

"It is a serum that the ones known as Kraang has developed to help the one known as Raphael's body to adjust its present form and change into the form of what is known as a female form."

"Are you seriously going to turn me into a girl?"

"That is not what the one known as Kraang is saying. The one known as Raphael will not be turned into what the one known as Raphael just called 'a girl', but the one known as Raphael's body will be developed so that it can handle what is known as labor for the time of the labor."

"Oh." Raph says. "That. Does. Not. Make. Any. Kind. Of. Sense."

"Not in the world that is known as this world."

"Pretty sure it doesn't make any sense in any world."

The Kraang-droid doesn't say anything to his final comment, but focuses on grabbing his arm and stretching it out to make it easier to sting him with the syringe. It hurts, but it's not the worst thing he's been through. In fact, the night when Raelle didn't allow him to sleep was much, much worse. The syringe is soon empty and the Kraang-droid pulls it out of his arm, but it doesn't seem to care about the arm bleeding from where the syringe stung him. Not being sure whether he should be disappointed in the Kraang-droid for not caring about that or if he should be disappointed in himself for not seeing that one coming, Raphael remains silent as he presses the tiny little bleeding spot until it stops bleeding.

"Are we done now?"

"The answer to the question that the one known as Raphael just asked…"

" _Yes or no?_ "

"…Yes. However, the Kraang must inform the one known as Raphael to take it easy for the rest of what is known as the day."

"Why is that?"

"The liquid known as serum has what is known as side effects that may or may not be what is known as unsettling."

"Thanks for the warning, but I'll probably be able to cope."

The Kraang-droid follows Raphael to his personal cell to rest for the rest of the day, and then they will check on him to see and make sure that everything is developing as planned. During the day, the three remaining turtles pays the fourth turtle a visit to make sure everything is as they agreed of. Even if the Kraang subprime told them that he was disappointed in their lack of trust for them, he still didn't have anything else to come with when Leo told him that they never agreed to how often the turtles would be checking in on them – that it's something they decides for themselves. Later on, subprime informs the three turtle brothers about the serum that they've been giving Raphael and even hands a sample to Donatello so that he'll be able to check it in his lab and come to the conclusion that it is perfectly safe. _(This is what the three first days will look like, so let's just skip forward to the fourth day and see what April is up to.)_

 **Day 4**

April sits by the table and stares at the cards in front of her. She still doesn't understand any of the tests that they're doing on her right now. If she would bet her money on it, she would say that they're just trying to come up with some harmless tests for her that are in fact utterly useless – because of the deal they made with the turtles, to not cause any of the two of them harm.

" _The test subject known as April O'Neil is to choose one of the what is known as cards that are on what is known as the table in front of the one known as April O'Neil._ "

Choose a card. That's all she's been up to these three days. Just sit down here at the table and choose the cards the Kraang has placed in front of her. Choosing cards. Choosing cards… _Choosing cards…_ It's just so boring! But still, she believes she rather prefers this boring test instead of having the Kraang carving her up to see what's on the inside. Yea, this is still better than that. In the meantime, as April is choosing the cards on the table, the Kraang-droids that are observing her measures the wavelength that their detector is picking up and adjusts the signal they're shooting out into the very lab she's in. The signal is so weak now that she doesn't feel it, but the stronger it gets, the sooner she'll feel it. The question is just: when?

 **Day 5**

Raphael leans on the table in the lab, trying his best to deal with the pain. His groaning from the painful adjustments his body is making is echoing through the lab, but none of the Kraang-droids care to give him a hand. All they do is telling him repeatedly to breath slowly and then to breath fast and then to breath slowly _and then to breath faster again_. His anger is rising every time he hears them repeat the instant orders that he's about to ignore, but the pain makes it impossible for him to reach out to destroy their heads. He lets his head fall and stares at his legs as he deals with the pain. His hips have gone a little wider since they gave him the serum, so it seems to be working, it's just very, very painful. So painful that he actually fear the pain he's gonna go through once he reaches labor. From what he can understand, the pain makes ladies ready to rip their own skin off, and that does not sound good. However, whether the source he got that information from is trustworthy or not is something he can't answer, so it seems that he'll just gonna have to wait and see whether it's true or not. Then suddenly, something happens that he never thought he would experience. The pain is slowly fading away.

"The painkilling medicine that the Kraang has created for the one known as Raphael seems to be working."

 _Oh, sweet relief!_ Raph feels how his entire body is shaking. It's hard to stand, hard to breath, _hard to punch those idiots in the face._ He stands up straight and stares the Kraang-droids in their "eyes".

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He doesn't get an answer. All they do is help him back to his cell to rest for a few moments before his brothers come to visit. They've been coming every single day, which is great! This gives them an opportunity to talk about what they're going to do by the end of the week once the baby is to be born. Raph shivers when he thinks about it. It seems that his worst nightmare is about to come true after all. Raelle will be born straight into the hands of the enemy. Who knows what they've been planning for her? It has to be something even bigger than they first figured, given that the Foot is involved in this after all. _Speaking of the Foot…_

"April told me that Karai did something." Raph says, getting all his brother's attention.

"Did what?" Leo asks.

"I don't know. April wasn't sure. But she knows that she did something when she stepped in the way to 'protect' us from the Kraang, y'know, when they were about to take us down."

"I knew there was something odd about her doing that!" Mikey says.

"Sure you did." Raph says.

"Well, whatever she did, I'm sure we'll find out what in time." Leo says with concern in his voice. "It will most likely be after Raelle is born, if not _immediately_ after."

Raph pets his belly, feeling how his worries and the adjustments his body is making is causing her to be uncomfortable. She moves around as much as she tries, but it's hardly as much as it was before, given that she's running out of space. _Still can't believe it's just a matter of days left… seems like yesterday when they first discovered her very existence._

"Speaking of that…" Raph says. "…you guys are planning to get me out of here before she's born, right?"

"That was the plan…" Donnie starts to say.

"' _Was?_ '" Raph interrupts. "'That _was_ the plan'? Don't you dare tell me that you've been making changes without telling me about it!"

"Raph… please." Donnie says. "Listen. I would gladly take the challenge and opportunity to help you give birth in the lair… but, our lair is in the sewers… the filthiest place there is in the world."

"So? We live there. We've been living there for our entire lives!"

"Yes, but when we were mutated, we were mutated into an age, a body with a working immune system. Raelle is going to be born from scratch, with an immune system that isn't working yet."

"But we… we cleaned the lair…?" Raph says, his voice is getting thin and weak as he gets anxious. "We… we prepared the lair… didn't we…?"

"Yes, we did…" Donnie says. "…but we never thought about cleaning the sewers, or the railways that's all around the lair."

"But… but… _but…!_ "

"Yea D." Mikey says. "Is that really going to be a problem?"

"I'm afraid so, Mikey."

"Well then, can't we just tell the Kraang to give her a lot of working immune system thingies in one of those syringes they always give him?"

For a moment, Donnie is silent. He thinks about it for a minute, at the most, before he looks at his younger brother. Well, sometimes he's offended that Mikey comes up with brilliant ideas instead of him. But now is not the time to pout for that. Mikey came up with an idea that just might work, and Donnie is ready to give it a shot! Without saying a word to his brothers, Donnie turns around and opens the door to the cell and walks out to the nearest Kraang-droid.

"I need to talk to subprime, please." Is all he says, and said and done, Kraang subprime is there withing a few minutes.

"What is it, Donatello?" He asks. "We have a lot to do and very little time."

"Yes, I know." Donnie says. "Which is why I need to check something with you."

"And what might that be?"

"When you're stressed, you easily forget things that you're supposed to do, right?"

"Is this supposed to be a joke?"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes."

"As I suspected. Now, I just want to check if you've remembered to give Raphael the help medicine for the immune system, to help Rae… _the baby_ to develop the immune system as fast as possible?"

"What?"

"I suppose you haven't then. Well, then it's a good thing I brought it up then. I don't know what you've been planning for her once she's born, but I do believe I'm right when I speak for all of us and say that none of our sides wants her to die the first thing she does once she's born?"

Not a word. Kraang subprime is currently speechless as he listens to the information Donatello's been telling him. He absolutely did not think about that. Thank goodness, the Foot isn't here to hear that. _Or…_

"Well that's interesting." Karai's voice echoes from behind and subprime says some very fine words in the back of his head. "Lucky for you that the scrawny turtle managed to figure it out."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Donnie ask her. "I'm not scrawny, I'm svelte!"

"Whatever."

 **Day 6**

Karai stands in one of the corners in the laboratory. Shredder sent her there to make sure that everything is going according to plan, and to make sure that everything with the Kraang also is going according to plan. When she told him about the small "lie" that Donatello told to the Kraang subprime he couldn't drop the subject that Donatello might have been right about that and ordered Baxter Flyman to come with her so that he could help Donatello and the Kraang with the serum. So, her orders are that in the meantime all the geniuses works on the serum for the baby, she is to sneak around and collect information from the turtles and the rest of the Kraang, since both she and the Shredder has a nagging feeling that every side in this dilemma is going to run in their own direction as soon as they possibly can and with as much as they possibly can – and all she has to do is figure out where, when and with what, so that the Foot can reach those parts before anyone and leave with victory.

With Baxter Stockman, Donatello and Subprime are working side by side in the laboratory – a sight no one thought they would see in a million years. Karai remains in the background for a moment, waiting for the smart heads to be so caught up in their little project that they won't notice her sneaking away. Once she sees her chance she goes for it. She checks her surroundings first to make sure that no one is watching her as she roams around in the hallways. It seems like everyone is either busy with Raphael's adjustments and progress or helping with April's different weird tests. But still, she should have known that there is someone who's able to foresee what she's planning.

"Going somewhere?" Leo asks just as she walks by him, not noticing him before it's too late.

She turns around and stares at him. He's leaning towards the wall and stares back at her with his arms crossed, but he hasn't drawn his swords yet – maybe because he doesn't want to be the one who breaks the truce. With a smile on her lips she changes her plans to go alone on the checkups and decides to bring him with her. It wouldn't be the first time he would trust her like that.

"I was just going to check up on something." She says.

"Oh yea?" Leo says and walks away from the wall towards her. "Check up on what?"

"Oh, nothing that you really need to know about."

"Is that so? And I thought we were supposed to be 'friends' for the moment."

"So?"

"So, you better not dislike that I'm tagging along."

"As you wish." She smiles and walks away without waiting for him.

They don't say anything during their "patrol" around the TCRI building's different hallways. Not a word during their walk. Karai glances back at him from time to time, pretending to be checking if he's still following her when the truth is that she's actually glad he decided to tag along. It's a lot easier to move around with one of the turtles, because no one who sees them will think that they're up to something like sabotage and such. As much as the turtles are the Kraang's enemies, they still have earned their trust by being so honorable. That is something rare and something the Foot is still struggling with – not that they really want to be allies with the Kraang, but it would still be nice to be trusted for once.

"So." Leo finally decides to kill the silence as they enter a quiet part of the building. "What are we checking up on?"

"The Shredder ordered me to set up hidden cameras and microphones all around the building." Karai says. "He wanted to be able and see that they really were going to do as we've planned from the start."

"Like what?"

"Not destroying you, for one." He smirks at her comment and lets her continue. "That and not letting you escape as soon as everything here is done."

"You mean, once the baby is born?"

"Exactly."

"I wouldn't worry about that." Leo says as his smirk grows. "We don't plan to be here that long."

Karai raises her eyebrows at his comment. She's not fast enough to call him back before he turns around and wishes her luck before leaving her where she's standing. All she can do is to stand there and watch him leave. _So, they're not planning to stay here until the deal is off? Clever turtle, clever turtle._

 **Day 7**

Raphael stares at the walky-talky. He just finished his conversation with April, letting her know the last of details just how they're planning to get out of here. According to Donnie, Raelle will be born either tomorrow or the day after – that is, if everything is working out as planned. Just like regular pregnancies, the date the doctors set can either be too early or too late. But that doesn't change the fact that there's merely days left before she's getting out of there.

He sighs. It just doesn't seem real. I mean, how on earth are they gonna get out of here just before she is about to be born? I don't know. _(Seriously, I don't. We'll just gonna have to improvise.)_ Maybe they'll have to stay until after she's born, but that's a horrible idea. That's literally to ask the Kraang to let them out and not to take the baby on the way. They're not gonna let that happen! As soon as anyone sees her they're gonna try and get their hands on her! That's just not going to work!

…

Leo walks into Donnie's lab. He's been in there the entire day and is obviously worried sick about their brother. Even if the plan is going to work, it's still going to be very hard to perform it. But that doesn't mean they're not going to try. Splinter has told them that he's going to come with them, because he fears that Shredder is going to be there as well, to make sure everything works out to the Foot's advantage. If that's the case, then they'll never be able to get out of this mess without losing either Raelle or both her and Raph. They need sensei to be there, and he knows that. He's going to be there for his sons. _And his granddaughter._

…

April tries to calm her mind, but there's something odd going on right now! It's like something is trying to enter her mind and make her do stuff she never would consider doing! Never! It has to be something the Kraang are doing to her! It has to be! It just has to! She tries her best to think of something else, but it's getting harder and harder for every minute! Maybe those tests the Kraang made her go through wasn't as pointless as she first had thought. It was just a disguise for something they've always wanted to do. _Mind controlling her!_

…

Karai stares out the window, stares at the view of the TCRI building through the rain. It's very suiting that it's raining. It makes everything seem so much sadder than it actually is. She pulls a sigh and thinks about the thing Leonardo told her the other day. That they're not going to stay until the deal is off, but take off before anyone will notice. If they really planned to make it like that, then why bother risking it by telling her? It has to be a trick. Or is it? She really doesn't know. All she knows is that it's making her unsure to what the turtles are planning and that itself makes her not want to tell the Shredder because he might get as confused as she is right now. So, she's just going to stand back and pretend that she never knew about it in the first place – that is, if they're really are planning to get out of there as soon as possible.

…

Mikey sits by the TV, but he doesn't feel like watching anything. He hasn't been very keen to do anything since they left Raphael, April and Raelle in the hands of their worst enemies. It's like he's worried and ashamed at the same time. And who can blame him? He remembers when Raph told him, as a secret, that he wanted Raelle to be born in the dojo, right next to the tree, so that the first thing she would see, would be the sunlight streaming down the sewer grate and light up the tree so that its leaves would glow. And even if the sun wouldn't shine then the tree would still be the very first thing she sees once she opens her eyes. But now… now the first thing she might see is the cold face of a Kraang-droid. That's not something you would like your child to see at any age, let alone newborn.

…

Donnie sits by his computer. There's nothing left for him to do. The Kraang gave Raphael the serum to increase Raelle's immune system as much as possible yesterday when he was there to observe. Everything is done. Everything except for one thing. Waiting. They all have to wait for Raphael to tell them that Raelle is about to enter the world. Only then will they be able to complete the plan. Raph is to tell them when he feels the first sign of him reaching labor and then they will get there and get him out of there before the Kraang notice anything, but the chance of the Foot being there is a great risk to. Thankfully Splinter is going to go with them. So, now, all they have to do is wait. It might be a few days or a couple of minutes away.

 **The Final Day**

 _(It's time to get all this waiting over with. I was planning to make you wait even longer, but I grew tired of waiting myself.)_

Four extra days have passed since the date Raelle was supposed to be born. Donnie keeps telling Raph that that's normal to happen, but he can't help but feel uncomfortable. It's almost like Raelle knows what's going on out there and is refusing to get out because she doesn't want to get in the hands of either the Kraang or the Foot. And to make things even worse, the last time the Foot visited, the Shredder came to. His terrifying laughter still echoes in Raph's mind, reminding him that whatever he's been planning for Raelle is way worse than what he dares to imagine. His eyes were as cold as ever when he observed the Kraang perform the daily routine and give him the serum for Raelle's immune system. They also gave him a sort of "speed up" medicine that women take to get things started sooner, and if it turns out to be working as effectively as they say, then it could be today that Raelle is born. That is why Raph has called over all his brothers, Splinter and Casey Jones, just to be on the safe side. They're all sitting together in Raph's cell, April included, and talks about how to get out of there.

"We may not have any option but to fight our way out." Leo says. "Now that Shredder is here, that is."

"But how are we supposed to do that?" Donnie asks. "Even with sensei with us, we are still outnumbered."

"And I'm not so sure how trustworthy I can be anymore." April says. "Whatever the Kraang are doing they're doing it good. It's hard to control even my own thoughts."

"The sooner we get out of here the better, for all of us." Leo says.

"Yeah." Mikey agrees. "You three have been here for way to long now, dudes. It's time to get out and go home."

"Indeed." Splinter says. "And even if we might have the odds against us, we still have a true reason to fight. For family."

"Is that so?" Kraang subprime's voice echoes behind them as the door to the cell opens. "Well then, I suppose the deal is off the table then?"

So, the time has come to get out of here. It is settled. Subprime's laughter echoes down the hallways and the massive flow of Kraang-droids are coming closer and closer. But as long as they all stay true to each other, they will get out of there. All of them. Together. With Splinter in the lead, the gang follows. They may not move as fast as they normally can, but they are getting out of there. Splinter, Leonardo and Donatello are fighting the Kraang-droids that's blocking their way out as Michelangelo, April and Casey fights the ones coming from behind. They're making progress, slowly, but progress indeed. Raph may be in the last minutes of his pregnancy, but he is still a ninja and can still move faster than a normal woman in those circumstances. The turtle gang is fighting their way forward, and soon the massive flow of Kraang-droids ends, leaving them lonely in a laboratory. In fact, the very same one where all this started in. They observe their surroundings, searching for the most possible way out when suddenly a disguised door opens in front of them.

"I must say…" Karai's voice echoes as she walks out the door. "…cutting the deal off just like that, is very dishonorable."

"Comes from the chic with foul mouth." Casey says.

Karai doesn't answer. All she does is smile and snaps her fingers, and suddenly the middle of the floor opens and a huge tank filled with mutagen is before them. Watching their steps, the turtle gang makes sure not to step on a trap that may or may not have been placed for them. Watching the turtle's reaction makes Karai smile. If they believed they could get out of there just like that without having them knowing about it, they're mistaking. But also, very foolish for letting her know just what they've been planning to do all along.

"Like my toymaker?" She asks with a smile. "The Shredder may want to destroy you with his own hands, but that doesn't mean I don't get to toy you around before that happens."

"Miwa…" Splinter says. "…my child, what are you doing?"

" _My name is Karai and I am not your child!_ " She yells back. "I'm going to rejoice when my father destroys you for what you've done to me, what you've done to _my mother!_ But trust me when I tell you that I'm also going to enjoy watching all of you turn into a _giant rat eating snake freak!_ "

"Karai!" Leo yells. "Don't do this!"

"Foot-bots! Attack!"

She yells a war cry as she and all the Foot-bots she brought attacks. Watching his own daughter searching for their destruction without realizing they're her true family, Splinter is unable to do anything but mouth his daughters name before she forces him into battle. They all fight for their lives – and for their present form – as the Foot-bots comes from all directions. Luckily, there's no sight of the Shredder, but that can only mean one thing: _he's on his way_. April stands by Raph's side, helping him defend himself in the situation. She struggles to keep her mind straight and to hit the enemies instead for her friends. Thankfully, all of them are aware of her struggles and doesn't blame her when she "accidentally" swings a hit in their direction. But they're not alone to know of her struggles. Just when she sees her chance, Karai leaves Splinter to fight the rest of the Foot-bots and rushes over to April. She hits, kicks and tries to cut her with her sword to get her away from Raphael.

"I'm going to enjoy slicing you wide open!" She roars at Raph. "And don't worry for ' _Raelle_ '. I'll take care of her right after I'm done with you!"

She attacks from all the directions she can come from, tries to get to the weakest point in Raph's defense. However, it seems to be harder than what she first believed. He is still ninja, and his present size doesn't seem to have affected his skills or reflexes as much as she has hoped. But she doesn't stop trying. She strikes and strikes as fast as she can, testing his limits to the max.

"Kraang." One of the Kraang-droids say through the communication device. "It appears that the one known as Karai, also known as Shredder's daughter, is trying to destroy the one known as Raphael and the one known as April O'Neil. Kraang is there for ordering the one known as Kraang to activate the thing known as the mind controlling machine to help in what is known as the situation. _Eliminate the threat known as the one known as Karai._ "

April gasps as she feels her mind being overrun. She feels how she can't control her thoughts, just watch them. She can't control her actions, what she's doing, only observe as she's doing it. She calls out to Raph, trying to warn him about herself, but he's too busy fighting Karai to notice. Thankfully, April soon realizes she's not really after Raphael. After a lot of struggling she manages to shout out Karai's name, get her attention and then… Karai turns around when she hears April call her name. What she sees is something she never expected to see in a million years. April had managed to sneak up on her despite her ninja skills, and now she raises her hands as if to grab her.

"You have to be faster than that to catch me!" She laughs at April, but that's all she manages.

April doesn't have to touch Karai to catch her. It's enough to merely think the thought and it happens. Karai feels how she's being lift from the ground by no one. She yells at April, but April's mind is to corrupted to hear anything at all. All she can do is watch as she throws Karai into the glass canister, the one in the middle of the room, the one filled with mutagen. She throws her with a speed and force that makes everyone stop their fighting at the sound of the collision. Karai grunts loudly by the collision and falls to the floor, not being able to move. The collision may not have been strong enough to kill her, but it was strong enough to make her unbalanced. She slowly gets up from the floor and stares at April with fire in her eyes. She catches her breath and then charges at April with all her force, but she misses as April flies up in the air and lands on top of the glass canister. Not being able to see things through, Karai throws herself through the air and aims at April who's just managed to take back control over herself.

"Karai!" She yells when she sees her charge at her. " _No!_ "

Karai strikes, she strikes hard and April falls of the canister with a pain spreading through her entire body. Karai's aim wasn't perfect, but she didn't miss either. Donnie watches in horror as he sees April fall to the floor with a great stab wound by her hip. He rushes to her, catches her in midair. As he holds her in his arms he sees how she once again loses control of herself. She raises her arm and ties a fist at the canister, and it cracks. He flees with her in his arms, trying to let his friends and brothers to know what's about to happen, when it happens. Splinter jumps away as he hears the sound of cracking glass. Once he reaches safety he looks up and sees Miwa, still standing on top of the canister. Feeling the panic in his veins, he lacks the time to act and can only watch as his daughter falls into the mutagen once the canister breaks completely.

" _Miwa!_ " He shrieks.

The mutagen covers most of the floor, leaving the turtle gang no choice but to get to higher ground until the Kraang opens the well to let the mutagen escape. Once the floor is cleared from mutagen, they all gather to see Karai, to see her new form.

"Miwa!" Splinter gasps when he sees the white scaled monster laying on the floor. " _Oh… my child!_ "

"Karai!" Shredder's voice echoes.

They all turn around and sees the Shredder enter through the door. He stares at the white snake monster that's unconscious on the floor, surrounded by the enemies. He raises his arms and roars in anger. He's just about to charge at them when a brand-new mass of Kraang-droids enter the lab. They surround the turtle gang and forces them away from the snake mutant.

"Kraang." One of them says. "Take the one known as Karai, also known as the one who tried to eliminate the ones known as the turtles and left the Kraang no option but to eliminate the one known as Karai."

" _You did what?!_ " Shredder roars.

He doesn't wait for an explanation, he's heard enough. The Kraang… the Hamato turned his daughter into a monster, a mutant! _They have to pay!_ He roars a war cry and charges at all the Kraang-droids he can come over. He destroys everything and everyone he can come across and the turtles prepares themselves to get out of there while he's still busy. But, with his daughter… _Miwa_ … she's just been turned into a mutant… Splinter feels his entire lust for life escape him. He knows that his sons are suffering with him, but it still isn't enough. April is about to tell Splinter how sorry she is for it all, when suddenly she feels Raphael's pain. He grunts, falls to the floor and pants loudly. April falls to the floor next to him. Splinter hears what's going on and slowly returns to what they were up to. He turns around and sees his son on the floor, sees the signs that he recognizes far too well. The same signs as when Miwa was to be born… _Miwa… my child…!_

"Sensei! We have to go!" Donatello says.

Splinter nods and watches his children get up and out of the lab, but himself, he's still struggling to leave his daughter behind. He feels how his heart and mind is torn in two different directions. He knows that he's needed by his son's side… but so his daughter's…

" _Hamato Yoshi!_ " Shredder's voice growls behind him.

Splinter turns around to see the white snake, his daughter, Miwa, in the hands of his worst enemy. Shredder stares at her body and then stares at him with death in his eyes.

" _You_ did this!" He roars. " _You did this!_ You will _pay for this!_ "

Splinter closes his eyes, listens to his mind, hearing what it tells him. That is not his daughter, that is Karai, Shredder's daughter. Not _his_ daughter… The Shredder's war cry echoes in the lab and Splinter prepares himself. Just as Shredder strikes for his life, Splinter throws a smoke bomb and vanishes before his eyes. Feeling his defeat, Shredder roars in anger while Splinter hurries after his children to take them back to safety. They have to fight more in order to get out, but once they reach the Shellraiser they can all see and guarantee that Raph's water has just broke.

"We have to go!" Donnie repeats.

"But what about Karai?" Leo asks as he sees Splinter's face.

"We have no choice, my sons." Splinter says. "We must get Raphael back home."

…

" _Be careful, will ya?!_ " Raph growls as Donnie and Leo helps him out of the Shellraiser.

"I'm sorry Raph, but we have to get you to my lab right now!" Donnie says.

"I don't want to go to the lab! Take me to the dojo!"

"Raph!" Leo says. "We need to check you first! We'll take you to the dojo after."

"Well, make if quick then! She's sick and tired of me! She's getting out now!"

They hurry to Donnie's lab, hurries to do a quick check up on him and then they hurry to get him to the dojo, as he wished. Even if Donnie isn't really happy with his brother's decision to give birth in the dojo, he still doesn't want to force his brother into yet another thing that he doesn't want to do. So, the dojo it is then. With the help from Mikey, April and Casey, he manages to get all the needed tools to make the birth as safe as possible. In the meantime, Leo and Splinter helps Raph to get into the dojo and to lay down on the pillows and blankets Mikey have placed there for him. Once he's comfortable, it's time to begin. Raph feels the pain come and go as it wishes to. He opens his eyes from time to time and sees everyone preparing themselves to help the best way they can. A smile spreads across his face when he sees that he – after all the things they've been through – still managed to get his wish come true. _He's laying by the tree_.

"Okay Raph." Donnie says as he places himself between his legs. "Take it nice and slow. No rush."

"Easy for you to say."

"Whenever I tell you to, you must push. Understood?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just get this over with."

Donnie places a few blankets in his lap so that he can place Raelle there once he got her in his hands. Then he prepares himself to instruct Raph as to when he's to push and how much. Leo and April remain by his both sides, helping him with his breathing and making sure he's not trying too hard. Splinter is right by Donnie's side, ready to help his son in any way he can. Mikey and Casey runs around, getting everything they need, such as blankets, towels, water etc. It feels like hours has passed before Donnie tells him to push the first time. Raph pushes and is ever so aware of his insides right now. He bites his tongue until he can taste the blood in his mouth. His mind if flying across the world, bringing him to memories of when he feared this moment, remembering the very video they watched of that woman that was in the same situation as he is right now. _How on earth did she survive this?!_

"That's good Raph!" Donnie says. "Now, just breath. Breath… and push!"

Raph pushes, as hard as he can without cracking his own head. Donnie repeats him to keep on pushing and to keep on breathing.

"Push Raph!" He yells. "You have to push!"

" _I am pushing!_ "

Donnie forces Raph to push harder, harder and harder than he already am. It's lucky for him that Raph can't move, or else he wouldn't be talking anymore. But as much as Raph wants to smack Donnie in the head, he knows that his brother just wants the best for him and for his daughter. Placing a hand on Raph's belly, Donnie tries to feel just where she is at the moment. He fails, since the plastron is far too thick to feel through, but soon realizes that he never needed to try and check it in the beginning.

"I can see her head!" He says with a smile. "Keep going Raph! Keep pushing!"

" _I'm… trying-ngh…!_ "

Donnie prepares to catch the little baby. He can clearly see her head and her shoulders are just about to show themselves. Donnie keeps telling Raph to keep going, but he can't hear him anymore. Right now, all he cares about is to get this all over with so that the pain can go away. _Please let it be over soon!_

"I got her!" Donnie suddenly yells. "Just one more push Raph and it's all over!"

Raph gives it his best shot and soon they can all hear the healthy cries of a newborn baby. Donnie holds the little crying Raelle in his hands and wraps her in the blankets he prepared for her. Splinter helps to cover Raphael up with another blanket as Donnie gets going to the lab to examine Raelle. After everything the Kraang have done to her already, he has to be sure she's going to be okay, even with the serum for her immune system. In the meantime, Raph is slowly getting back to reality-zone and feels the pain is going away. His belly is still big, but he supposes it will get back to normal after a while. He slowly gets aware of what's going on around him. April and Leo sits by his sides and congratulates him. Sensei is holding his hand and smiles deeply. Mikey and Casey are doing some sort of victory dance. Donnie is… wait… where is Donnie? And… where's Raelle?

"Wh-where…?" Raph slowly says as he tries to get back up on his feet.

"Raph. Hold on." Leo says and pulls his brother back to the floor. "You need to rest."

"Where is she?" Raph asks. "Where… where is she?"

Leo's just about to answer his question when the cries of a baby echoes through the lair, catching all of their attention. Hearing his daughter's cries for the first time in real life, Raph feels how every cell in his body screams for her closeness, screams to make her stop crying! He fights Leo and keeps trying to get up and he only stops when he sees Donnie enter the dojo with a wrapped-up blanket in his arms. Raph tries to speak but only ends up with making hysterical noises when he realizes that his daughter is in the blanket and he reaches for her. Donnie can't help but smile when he sees his brother's reaction and walks up to him to retrieve the little crying baby girl back to her daddy. The closer Donnie gets the calmer Raph becomes. Everyone watches as Donnie sits down right next to Raph and carefully places Raelle on his plastron. He doesn't let go before he knows Raph's got her in his hands. Raph holds her tight, but not too tight at the same time. He looks at her and sees her open her eyes, looking back up at him. Only when father and daughter sees each other for the first time does she stop crying.

"Hh… hi!" Raph whispers, forgetting to fight the tears. "Hey there… lill' ninja… lill' kunoichi…"

Everyone slowly gathers around him to get a better look at her, but they also respect and gives them the space and air that they need. Raph can hear how everyone whispers words of joy at the mere sight of her, the sounds she makes and the smell of her. She whimpers a little, but that's all she does. She doesn't cry anymore, doesn't seem to be bothered by anything. She looks around a little but always returns to look her father in the eyes.

" _Awww!_ " Mikey says. "She's beautiful!"

"She's got daddy's eyes." April says.

"And his lip." Leo ads with a big smile.

Splinter sits by, sees the reactions of his children to the new member of the family. He knows the feeling of joy when a father first meets and sees his child. He knows the wonderful feeling of realizing that you've created new life. The smiles of his children are something that makes his heart rejoice and warm his entire body. He knows just how it feels like, because he experienced it himself with Miwa… _Miwa… my child…_ His smile slowly fades away when he thinks about his daughter… when he thinks about the tragic she went through today. He raises his head and looks back on his children. Yes, he knows the feeling of joy when you first hold your child… but he also knows the terrible feeling of losing the very same child to your worst enemy… how it feels like to see her going through the transformation from human… to mutant… No. This is not the time to feel sadness. He may know the terrible things that parenthood brings upon you, but now is not the time to place them in the spotlight. Now is the time to feel the joy and to let happiness take over.

"So…" Raph says when he regains his voice. "So, you're the one who's been keeping me up every night, huh?"

As if she knew exactly what he said she grins. A big smile spreads across her face as if she knew exactly what she's done to him during the pregnancy. Thankfully, her father is a forgiving father and only smiles at it as he places a kiss on her head.

"My little ninja." He says. "My little love. _My little Raelle_."

 _(Here we are. At last. Little Raelle has finally arrived! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's longer than I first planned, because I didn't want to make a part 3, which explains why I'm a little late in uploading. Sorry for that. Also, I want to thank you_ **raelle** _, for telling me about the name Raelle to begin with and to also let me use it to name the little baby. I really appreciate it – and I wanted to tell you much earlier but for some reason I can't send a message to you. Also, I have a surprise for you who read this story. I've uploaded a one chapter story named "_ **Raelle's mother** _" and I really need you to go and check it out. It's a little preview of what may or may not happen in the story. You'll find more information about it there. Please check it out, and please leave a review and tell me what you think!)_


	19. Chapter 19

**TMNT 2012**

 **Wounds**

 _(Well, this chapter is going to be different from what I first planned for chapter 19 – like Enter Renet, or something like that. But then I re-read chapter 18 and suddenly realized one thing: April got stabbed in chapter 18. Whooops! I completely forgot about that! So, instead of letting Renet enter straight after Raelle's birth, I'm gonna make her wait a little longer to enter the story. Hope you don't mind!)_

April stands as still as she possibly can, but it's very hard when the pain gets to her. Donnie is just as careful as he can be, she knows that, but sometimes it hurts too much for her to be still. He apologizes every time and every time she apologizes back. He looks at her with one of the saddest looks he's ever given her and asks her to tell him if it hurts to much, which she promises to do. He cleans the wound and tries to be respective at the same time. Not for causing her lots of pain, but for the location of the wound. Karai's aim wasn't perfect, but it couldn't have been worse. Right by the hip, just so that he needs to pull her shorts down a little _and_ her underwear. He did tell her that if it made her to uncomfortable he could give her a towel to cover herself up with, but she said she didn't mind – but he's not so sure if he can trust her statement.

"You okay, April?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He swallows and focuses on the wound, trying to block out the nervousness as much as he can. April looks down at him, observes him as he stands on his knees in front of her and carefully wipes the wound clean with a sterilized cloth. It's really embarrassing, that this happened. It feels like she failed master Splinter's training, big time! But in the same time, she knows that none of them could have prepared themselves on the Kraang's mind controlling idea, but it still doesn't help her feel any better. Not only did she get stabbed right _there_ , but she also… she… _she's the one who caused Karai's mutation._ No one can deny that. She might not have been able to control herself by the moment, but she did see firsthand what happened. _She's the one who's responsible for Karai's mutation._ A sigh escapes her when she thinks about it, making Donnie look up at her again, fearing that he's causing her harm.

"April?" He asks. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Because, no offense, but you don't look… fine."

She looks at him. He may be a ninja, but when it comes to formulate a sentence to sound better than it actually sounds like, he fails miserably. Still, she knows what he means. Killing the sigh that's on its way, she closes her eyes just so that he won't be able to look in to them and then she speaks.

"I'm…" She starts slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Donnie says and looks way more confused than sad now. "April. You don't have to be sorry. I saw what happened. There was no way for you to dodge an attack like that."

"No… not that…" She says and feels how the tears starts to build up.

"Then, what are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry for…" She tries to speak, but ends up sobbing it out. "…for… Karai…"

Her sobs get louder as she thinks about it all over again. What has she done? She mutated Splinter's daughter! What kind of student does that?!

"You're sorry for Karai?" Donnie asks and watches as April nods. "Why?"

"I caused her mutation!" She sobs loud. "I… I caused sensei's daughter to get mutated!"

"April…" He whispers, not really sure what to do or say to make her feel better. "It… it wasn't… it's not your fault."

"But it is!"

"April." Donnie gets up on his feet and places his hands on her shoulders.

April doesn't open her eyes because she knows that he's going to look in to them with his own hazel eyes. She knows that he's going to look in her eyes and say that it wasn't her fault, but she knows that it was! He looks at her, watches as she refuses to look him in the eyes, to hide her shame probably, but that's not going to stop him from talking to her.

"April." He says as he looks at her, even though her eyes are closed. "Did you want to mutate Karai?"

She shakes her head.

"Did you want to cause sensei harm?"

She shakes her head.

"Did the Kraang take control of your mind?"

She nods slowly.

"Were you able to control yourself when Karai got mutated?"

She shakes her head.

"Was it the Kraang who forced you to do it?"

She nods slowly.

It's fascinating. She doesn't have to look at him, to look him in the eyes and yet he's still able to talk sense with her. He watches as she slowly calms down and tightens the grip around her shoulders a little, carefully, not to cause her any harm. With a deep breath, he continues to talk to her.

"April." He says and sees how she slowly opens her eyes and looks at him. "It wasn't your fault."

Tears stream down her face when she hears him say it and closes her eyes again. She sobs and covers her mouth and nose with her hands. Her head drops which causes her hair to cover her face so that he can't see it. With a deep sigh, he closes his eyes for a moment and carefully pulls her into a hug. She doesn't fight it, which means his words has reached her, but she doesn't put her arms around him either. Still, his words have reached her.

"It's not your fault, April." He whispers.

They stand like that for a little moment before Donnie remembers the wound and lets her go to get it all cleaned up. April opens her eyes when she feels him let her go and observes as he starts cleaning her wound again. _He's such a sweet guy._ He takes out a brand new sterilized cloth and cleans in the edges of the wound, and then it's done. With a smile on his lips he looks up at her for a second and reaches for a bandage. He rolls it up and lifts her T-Shirt a little so that he can put it all around her waist to make it easier for her and more comfortable if she would have to go to the loo. It doesn't take too long until he's done and once he is he takes the T-Shirt down again and lets her put her shorts back up again.

"There we go." He says. "I suggest that we check on it now and then, like once or twice a day so that we can be sure…"

He stops talking as he sees April fall to her knees and throw her arms around him. His brain is smart and fast, but right now it's slow to process what's really happening. _Let's see…_ April's standing on her knees in front of him. She's got her arms all around him. Her head and most of her body is leaning towards him and he can hear some sobbing. _Oh! I know!_ He places his arms around her and hugs her gently, letting her know that he's there for her. He'll always be there for her. _He really is a sweet guy!_

…

His belly is getting smaller, slowly, which makes it much, much easier to see your feet – and to use them for walking and such. Raph is still laying by the tree in the dojo with little Raelle in his arms. He hasn't been able to move a millimeter for over three hours, which is completely fine given what he's just been through, and all he's been doing for this time is to glance down at his daughter. She's still awake, but you can tell that she's getting more and more tired, not that Raph really knows what she's getting tired from. After all, _he's_ the one who did the hard work. But for whatever reason that makes her tired, Raph is still happy to hold her in his arms and knowing that she's safe, far away from the enemies. Her cute little sounds that comes and goes as she breathes or sees something new and exciting makes him enter euphoria mode every time. _She's just so tiny and cute!_

"Are you ready?"

Raph looks at Leo and thinks about the question. He's been in the euphoria mode so many times now that he has no idea what's going on around him anymore. All that he knows is what he sees, and right now he sees Leo sitting by his right side, smiling at him and that he just asked the question ' _are you ready?_ '.

"For what?" He asks.

"Going to your bed." Leo says, looking a little confused to Raph's own confusion. "Did you forget?"

" _Dude_ , I just _squeezed a watermelon_ through my butthole! I would like to see you do that and still being able to remember everything that's going all around you."

"You… just did… _what?_ "

"Don't you remember the movie April made us watch? The lady said that it felt like you had to squeeze a freaking watermelon out your butthole!"

"Oh… well I… can… imagine…?"

"Sure, you can. Now, help me up, please."

Leo slowly gets up on his feet again and calls Mikey and Casey over to help him. As they enter the lair Leo reaches for Raelle to hold her while Casey and Mikey help Raph up from the floor. A small sound echoes through the lair when Raelle sees the brand-new face of the turtle holding her. Leo looks at her to see if he's causing her stress, but from what he can see she's just curious as to who it is that's holding her. Now, he knows that she's far too young for being able to know things and such, but he still gets the feeling that she's wondering who he is. He smiles at her and tickles her little lip with his finger and sees her smile at him. She's very cute – _much cuter than her father, but don't tell him that_. She makes some _'blurg-glurg'_ sounds and Leo feels how his heart slowly melts. _She's adorable_.

"Don't you dare drop her, Leo." Raph's voice brings Leo back to reality.

Casey and Mikey has just managed to get him up on his feet and is now preparing to walk him to his room with Leo following, carrying Raelle. Leo just rolls his eyes at Raph's comment. Why on earth would he risk dropping her? She's the most fragile thing this family has and the most precious to. Why would he drop her?

"Don't worry Raph. I got her." He says back to his hotheaded brother.

The four-duo is slowly making their way from the dojo and straight to Raph's bedroom, where the papa and baby is going to be for the rest of the day, to rest and just spend safe and sound time together. When they enter the bedroom, they find Splinter in full action trying to organize the room as much as he can to make it more comfortable and safe for both Raph and Raelle, so that they both can sleep well without worrying about anything. He turns around when he hears the door open behind him and smiles when he sees what's waiting on the other side. The first trio walks carefully around him to the bed while Leo waits outside the door till it's safe to enter with Raelle.

"How is she doing?" Splinter asks his oldest son.

"Just fine." Leo answers with a smile. "She's some precious treasure."

"Yes, that she is." Splinter says.

He walks up to Leonardo and looks at the tiny little turtle that's wrapped in his arms. She's almost asleep, but all the things that's going on around her is enough for her to fight sleep. Her eyes search every inch they can find and soon they land on Splinter. She looks at him like Miwa once did – curious as to who that figure is. Yet she's not frightened by all the faces she sees.

"Kon'nichiwa, sukoshi ai*." He says with a gentle voice.

She looks up at him with her big green eyes. A sigh escapes him when he sees just how calm she is. Miwa on the other hand was screaming like a maniac for the entire day before she fell asleep, but I guess every baby is different from each other and reacts differently.

Leo sees the small moment of love between his father and his little niece and can't help but smile at it. To have been just born, Raelle sure knows how to make people smile as soon as she enters the room. He holds her tight as sensei places a gently kiss on her forehead to make sure he doesn't lose his grip of her ever. Splinter then stands up and nods at him before returning to tide up the room. He's almost done but since he's here he might as well help out with the hotheaded father and all. Back in bed Raph is trying his best to find a good resting position that isn't just comfortable but that also allows him to let Raelle rest in his arms. It suddenly got a lot harder to bring the baby everywhere. She was sort of always "attached" before she was born and now he's not so sure what to do. Leo remains outside the room for a while until they almost get ready for him to come in as well, but sort of has to when Raelle suddenly decides to miss her father and whines. Being the father Raph is, it doesn't take long before he registers her whines as something only he can do something about.

"This will do!" He says fast and shoves Mikey and Casey away to wave Leo over. "I'll take her, Leo! Bring her here! _C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!_ "

Leo shakes his head at Raph's panic. Seriously, she's like two feet away. Oh well, might as well bring her those two feet to make him stop panicking. Petting her check gently Leo smiles at her and starts walking up to her father that can't wait anymore to be reunited with her.

"Alright Raph, here you go." He says.

Raph stops panicking and sits still and quiet as Leo reaches Raelle towards him and carefully places her in his hands. As soon as she's with her father again Raelle stops whining and returns to making the cute noises again. She's laying safe and sound in her father's warm hands. Safe from everything that wants to hurt her. They all look at her as she lays in Raph's big hands and are amazed as to just how small she really is. True that Raph's hands are the biggest ones in the mutant family, but still. A baby is always a baby and his hands are big enough for her to lay in. She doesn't seem to mind though. All that matters to her is that she's with her papa.

"You're so tiny!" Raph whispers and smiles.

Splinter smiles at the relationship Raph's building up with his daughter. It's hard for him to understand or even believe that there are men in the human world that chooses not to build up a relationship with their children. It's something he's never understood ever since Miwa was born. From the very moment when he heard her little screams he desperately wanted to be a part of her life, automatically. So just how… how can a father or a mother decide that they don't want to love their children? How? He wakes himself up from his thoughts and focuses on his son and granddaughter. For whatever reason those "parents" have chosen to do as they do, he is still happy that Raphael hasn't chosen the same way as them.

…

She hasn't said anything since she hugged him, but he can tell that she's still hurt from her experience at the TCRI building and what happened to Karai. He's worried. Real worried. So worried that he's thinking about something that he knows will make her angry at him, for a moment. But it's the only way for her to understand that there was nothing she could have done and that no one is blaming her except for herself.

"Are you okay?" He asks once she's dressed again.

"Yeah." She says with a weak whisper.

She's not okay. She's not fine. He has to do it, even if she's going to hate him for a moment. It's only going to be for a moment, he knows that. So why is he hesitating? He kills a sigh to hide his worry and walks to the door to prepare himself to go out from the lab. Her glare burns in his skin and he understand that she might be wondering if he's about to do what he's planning to do.

"Just… wait here, okay?" He says with a smile and walk out from the lab, leaving her where she's standing.

He hurries as fast as he can just to make sure she won't have the time to figure out what he's doing and therefore walk straight out the lair and home. Not that she would react like that when she knew that he's just trying to help her, right. Right? He hurries to the dojo. Empty. He hurries to the kitchen. Empty. The living room. Also empty. Where? A sudden happy shriek from a baby catches his attention. It came from the bedrooms, so he only imagines that it must have come from Raph's bedroom. Where else would they have brought them? With big steps, he flies across the living room and knocks gently on the door. He's not entirely surprised when master Splinter opens the door.

"Hi sensei." He says. "Can I talk with you for a sec?"

He doesn't say a word to answer his son's question, only walks out the door and closing it behind him to give them some privacy from the others. With sensei's worried eyes searching his face, Donnie tries to figure out a way to say it so that it doesn't worry him more than what's necessary.

"What is it, Donatello?" Splinter asks.

"It's April." He answers. "I think… I know… -sigh-… she needs to talk to you, sensei."

"Donatello. What is wrong?"

"She won't stop blaming herself, sensei! No matter how much I try it still ends with her blaming herself for everything that happened to Karai! I just don't know what to do! Nothing I say or do works!"

Splinter sees the worry in his son's eyes. It is not a secret that he is interested in April, nor is it a secret – to Splinter – that April secretly responds to his feelings. He pulls a sigh. It must be hard for him to see her in a mental distress which can't be cured right away. But that's just the case. Wounds to the mind cannot be cured right away. They take time. Wounds to the body can take time to, but they will heal, while wounds to the mind doesn't always. That is something no one can change, and something his son needs to learn.

"Where is she?" Splinter asks.

"In my lab. I asked her to wait for a moment…"

"My son." Splinter says and places a hand on his son's shoulder. "What happened to Karai is a tragedy. And tragedies always leave wounds. Some of those wounds may be physical and are easy to treat and heal, but most of those wounds are mental, and mental wounds does not heal as easy."

"I know, sensei… I'm just… worried."

"I understand that, my son. But you must understand that the wounds that April have suffered may not heal as fast as anyone would like. If they heal at all."

He gives his son a gentle squeeze on the shoulder before he walks to the lab to have a small conversation with April. Donatello remains where he is standing, watching as sensei walks to the lab. Hopefully he will be able to help April to deal with this demon that's haunting her. Hopefully.

"Hey D!" Mikey's voice echoes as the door slams open. "What are you doing out here? Come in and say 'hi' to Raelle!"

"Mikey!" Raph's voice growls as Raelle slowly starts to cry. "Slam that door again and I'll slam your face!"

"Sorry Raph!"

Donnie casts one final glance at sensei's direction, but he's no longer anywhere to be seen. Hi must have reached the lab already, which means he must be talking to April right now. _Man, I hope it goes well!_ A hand grabs his arms and all he can see when he turns his head back is Mikey pulling him in through the door. It's very surprising sometimes just how strong their youngest brother is, and not to mention fast! _Or how fast he forgets things._

"Watch the door!" Leo yells when- SLAM and little Raelle cries.

" _Mikey!_ "

…

Splinter knocks gently on the lab door, waits for April to call him in and then he walks in. He sees her eyes grow as she probably didn't expect to see him walking through that door. She straightens her back and smiles at him, with the biggest smile she can pull for the moment, he supposes. He returns her smile and thinks about what Donatello told him. She must be hiding her thoughts and feelings for him, if Donatello isn't overreacting, that is.

"Donatello said you needed to see me." He says with a calm voice.

"He did?" She asks. "Why?"

Her smile fades away and he can clearly see that his purple banned son wasn't overreacting about this. She is clearly in the need for some moral support and help.

"He said something about you not being able to forgive yourself for what happened to Karai."

"Oh…" She says and turns around to make sure he doesn't see the tears that's starting to develop. "…he… did?"

"He did." Splinter says and takes a few steps closer. "How are you feeling, my child?"

"I'm fine."

"Then why do you hide your feelings?"

"Because…!"

She doesn't move. Splinter observes her as she slowly starts shaking. He knows that she's crying, but when she turned her back against him she told him that she doesn't want him to feel sorry for her. She told him in words that she's fine, but when he asked her about hiding her feelings she didn't say "I'm not!", she said "Because". She's hiding her feelings, but she's not denying it. Maybe Donatello sent him to her just in time or maybe she knows deep down that there's no point in trying, since he will be able to figure out the truth no matter what – since he's a ninja master. Splinter observes her. It pains him to see any of his children like this.

"April." He says. "Hiding your emotions will only cause you harm. Please. If not for yourself, then let it out for us."

Slowly shaking soon becomes faster and faster. It's starting to dawn on her that she can't continue hiding her feelings like this forever. Especially not to sensei. Donatello is a smart turtle and he saw the dangerous signs and did the only thing he knew would help. Sending Splinter. Everyone's weakness. She inhales some sobs and shuts her eyes closed, hoping that she'll be able to control her emotions. But there's no use.

" _I am so sorry!_ " She finally caves in.

Splinter sees her let it out, sees her fall to her knees without anyone to catch her and hurries up to her. He sits down next to her and holds her in his arms as she cries silently. It's obvious that she's sad, but it's also obvious that she doesn't want anyone to know about it.

"Don't fight your emotions, April-kun." Splinter says. "Don't fight them."

"How…?!" She cries. "How can you be so calm?! I mutated your daughter!"

"April-kun."

"I was there sensei! I saw what happened! I know it was me! _It was me!_ "

…

Donnie keeps on eyeing the door, as if he was waiting for someone – most likely April – to come walking in. It doesn't matter how long it takes or how loudly Raelle cries, he continues to glare at the door as if she would come walking through the door any second now. Leo doesn't get it. He's been observing his brother for some time now and he just don't get it. He knows how much April means to him and he knows that she got injured on the way back… he keeps looking at the door, as if he's worried about her safety… so why isn't he getting out of here and searching for her if he's so worried for her? It bother's Leo, for some reason, to see his brother just sitting there when it's obvious that he wants to be somewhere else. Maybe he's not brave enough to search for her? That's always a possibility. But since he's worried about her it must mean that there's something about her that's worth being worried about. But he's still sitting there. That can only mean one thing.

"Really Leo?" Casey says when he sees him get up. "You're abandoning the ship when we need the captain the most?"

"Yeah, man! Where are you going?" Mikey asks.

"I just have to check something." Leo says as he walks out the door.

"Don't you dare slam it!" Raph growls.

Leo stares his hotheaded brother in the eyes and slowly – _extremely slowly_ – closes the door after him. Raph doesn't have anything to say about that, he just continues to try and calm his daughter from crying this much. She's obviously tired and wants to go to sleep, but she's so tired that she just cries and slamming the door like a Mikeynac – _I mean maniac_ – isn't really helping.

Raelle's cry echoes through the living room, letting Leo know that it didn't help with closing the door as calmly as he did – although it probably would've been worse if he had slammed it shut – and is just glad that he's not in there anymore so that his ears can get some rest. She's not even 5 hours old and is still testing their limits – the ear's, that is – to the absolute max. He walks slowly across the living room towards the lab door, where he's certain that the thing Donnie is worried about is. He's just by the door when it suddenly opens by itself which makes him jump out of the way for whatever is coming out of there. Soon he sees April's miserable face coming out of hiding behind the door. Her eyes and cheeks are red from sobbing and crying, she doesn't see him at first and just walks out the door towards him. Only after taking a few steps does she look up and sees him and stops walking. Leo is just about to ask her what's wrong when she suddenly launches herself into his arms and holds a tight grip around him. Just like Donnie failed to react immediately, it takes Leo some time before he understands what's going on and then hugs her back, tightly. He feels her body shake, feels the wet tears land on his shoulder as she slowly cries in his arms. A shadow before him catches his attention and he sees Splinter standing at the door opening. He smiles at his son and then makes a nod, suggesting him to cast a glance behind him. Being very sure what's waiting behind him – or rather who – he gently pets April's head before releasing her from his grip. They look each other in the eyes for a little while before Leo turns his head over his shoulder and sees Donnie standing not too far away. April soon sees what he sees and releases him from her grip as well. This time Donnie has time to react as she walks up to him and straight into his arms. Still not sure as to what it is that has made her cry, Leo stands where he is and observes as his brother does his best to comfort April. Splinter walks up to him and stands right next to him with a warm smile on his lips.

"I don't understand." Leo whispers. "Why is she crying?"

"This event has been a very hard test for all of us, Leonardo." Splinter says. "And it seems as if April might have failed it."

"She failed?"

"According to herself, she did."

He doesn't need to know much more, he's pretty sure he knows what Splinter is talking about. After all, they were all there. They all saw what happened to April and to Karai. He's pretty sure that if he was in April's clothes he would have reacted in the same way as her – not understanding what had happened, and not being able to forgive himself.

"It will take time for her to heal." Splinter says. "She needs everyone's help to recover as much as possible."

"Hai, sensei."

…

"I think I know why she's crying so much." Mikey says.

"Cause she's tired?" Casey asks.

"How did you know that?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because I've been here since she started crying?"

"Or maybe it's because you two won't be quiet!" Raph says.

"Calm down man!" Casey says.

No one in the room notice that Splinter opens the door to see what's going on in there. Raelle's cries caught his attention and he felt the need to see what's wrong, and now he's pretty sure he knows just what that is. He sees the three teenage boys arguing and the little baby turtle in Raphael's arms, crying due to tiredness and lack of peace.

"My sons." He says to get all their attentions. "I think it would be best if we left Raphael and Raelle alone. After all, those are the cries of an exhausted baby, and every exhausted baby needs to be left in peace and silence."

No one fight him. No one tries to speak against him. He's the adult in this family and household. He's the one who's in charge of everything and everyone – even their leader Leonardo. Casey and Michelangelo doesn't waste any time getting out of there and leaves Splinter standing in the door opening. He listens to Raelles cries and sees the almost desperate look on Raphael's face. Her cries are beginning to tear on him. This is not unusual to happen for any newly parents.

"Help me sensei! I-I don't know what to do!"

Splinter walks in to his son and sits down by the bed. He sees the expression on Raelle's face, sees the same frustration and desperation on Raphael's face that he felt a long time ago, when he failed to calm Miwa down. Without saying a word, Splinter places a hand on Raelles cheek and strokes it gently. He feels how Raphael stares and observes every movement he makes, hoping that he's about to witness some miracle move to make her stop crying and fall asleep. But he doesn't. Splinter's hand leaves Raelle's cheek and moves up to his bed lamp and turns it off. Not sure what to do or say or even think, Raph just follows his father's movement wherever he may be reaching. From the lamp and then back to Raelle's cheek. She's still crying and after a little moment Splinter's hand leaves her cheek once more to grab Raph's hand and pulls it up to her cheek. Still crying.

"Sensei?" He whispers.

"This may be the most powerful test for you, my son." Splinter says. "And it may be the only way for you to truly learn it."

"What?"

"Patience."

His eyes go almost blank when he hears his father mention the word. It is definitely not his strong side! At first, he believes that he may be joking, but then he sees how Splinter gets back on his feet and walks towards the door.

"Sensei?" His voice cracks due to the desperation.

"Some things take time, my son. You must have patience and believe that she will calm down."

He watches as Splinter closes the door behind him, leaving him alone to deal with a very, _very_ angry baby. Her cries soon turn into white noise and he feels how his head hurts. Why? Why won't she stop crying? She started out as such a nice and happy little baby! Always smiling and curious! How did _this_ happen?! He tries to shush her to sleep, but it doesn't help. Then he tries to pet her cheek like sensei did, but it doesn't help. He then tries to sing to her, but it doesn't help! Then he tries to make funny faces, but it doesn't help! _Why?! Why isn't it helping?!_ _Why won't she fall asleep when she's so darn tired?! Why?!_

"Raelle, baby, _please!_ " He whispers to her, feeling the Deja vu moment from when he tried to sleep and she wouldn't stop kicking in his belly. "I just want to lay down and sleep. Don't you?"

She cries and cries and cries _and cries_. He's running out of ideas and wrecks his brain with everything he's got. But nothing changes. She's still crying. He feels how the frustration and anger starts to build up inside him, but he can't be mad at his baby! He just can't! It's different when he's dealing with Mikey – he's old enough to understand, but Raelle, she's just a little baby! He can't yell at _her! Shushing, shushing, shushing, shushing_. It doesn't help. His strength to keep going slowly dies and he admits himself defeated. For the first time, he's defeated – _by a baby_.

"Okay, okay…" He whispers to her. "I have no idea what you want me to do… but I… I need to lay down… is that ok?"

He carefully picks the crying little baby up in his shaky hands and puts her carefully on the mattress to his right. She continues to cry as he changes his position from sitting to laying, as slowly and carefully as he possibly can. When he's lying on his side with her right next to him he feels how the aching muscles in his back and neck starts to relax. The tiredness starts to dawn on him and he fears to fall asleep. What if something happens to her? What if he crushes her in his sleep? He fights sleep and tries to rock her gently, placing his hand on her belly and moving back and forth, carefully. He's so tired that he doesn't notice how she slowly stops crying. It takes a while for his brain to register the silence, and when he does, he fears to start the crying again. He stares at the little baby and sees how she starts to relax by the rocking. She's not asleep yet, but she's getting there.

"There you go." Raph whispers. "Was that all you wanted? Why didn't you say so?"

Her eyes move around before landing on him when he asks her the question. She gives him a stare that appears to be saying _'Because you should have known'_. He smiles at his little baby, smiles at the most welcome silence. But he can't fall asleep yet. Not with her in the same bed as him. He might crush her when he falls asleep! What would he do if he suddenly woke up and found her dead tight next to him?! That's not allowed to happen!

He carefully starts looking around his room, not forgetting to rock her softly, hoping to find something to put her in so that they both can sleep safely. Didn't he get a crib on his baby shower? I'm pretty sure he did. _(Also, I re-read the chapter with the baby shower and noticed that I never mentioned the crib, because I accidentally wrote "brick" instead of "crib". How and why, I don't know, but can't we pretend that when I said "brick", I said "crib"? Cause that's what I was going for.)_ Yes, yes, he did. But where-? Suddenly his eyes spot a small crib in the corner of the room, perfectly prepared for a little baby to sleep and rest in. How come he didn't see that before? Must have been pushed aside when everyone gathered in here. _Just perfect_. _How is he supposed to reach that?_ Wrecking his brain as he continues to rock his baby, he eventually tries to reach the crib with his free hand whilst still laying in his bed. He fails. The only thing he succeeded in doing was to make Raelle look at him with a questioning stare. When he notices, he meets her stare with a smile.

"Wondering what daddy is doing?" He asks. "Well, daddy is wondering that himself."

He tries to reach from different angles, but the crib is always too far away. The only way for him to reach it is to get out of bed and walk up to it. But he can't do that without having to move Raelle first, and he doesn't dare to do that in case he causes her to cry again. _But he has to get the crib!_ Sighing in defeat. He surrenders once more and asks his daughter to forgive him, and that she won't start crying again. She looks at him with her big eyes when he slowly and carefully picks her up in his arms and carefully gets out of bed. Whenever she makes a sound he stops to see if it was or wasn't the beginning to the eternal cry-festival, but so far so good. He walks slowly across his room and grabs the crib gently and carefully before he starts dragging it with him to the bed. So far Raelle's patience have turned out to be stronger than his, but he's got a feeling that even hers is about to run out. Hurrying as slowly and carefully as he possibly can, he places the crib right by the bed, so that he can still reach her if so is needed. Then he places a soft kiss on her cheek before placing her in the crib. She seems to be very skeptical to the new environment and not as comfortable as she was before with her daddy, but daddy is not far away and reaches in to lay his hand on her belly again and slowly starts to rock her as before. He watches her calm down and closing her eyes. A sigh of relief escapes him and he feels the tiredness sweep over him once more. Now he's allowed to go to sleep, when he knows that she'll be just fine and that he's not going to harm her for falling asleep.

"Sweet dreams, little one." He whispers with a smile and falls asleep with his hand resting on her belly.

…

Mikey refuses to let her go. She's trapped in his arms with no way to escape them. He may not have a single clue as to why she's sad and crying, but that's not important. All he needs to know is that his friend is crying and in the need for comfort. He doesn't care what the others say about his behavior, or how many times April says she's fine. Whenever his friend or brother is sad, he's going to be there for them. _Always!_ That's something he wants them all to know, and something he wants Raelle to know that to.

 _(Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I suddenly remembered April's stab wound and forced Renet to wait a chapter. After all, it did buy us some precious papa Raphael and baby Raelle moments :D and that's always something! :D And a little Apriltello. Anyways, hope you like it! Please tell me what you think!)_

 _(Also, I'm working on a design for grown up Raelle. Hopefully it will be done by the next chapter so you can see it.)_

 _*It is Japanese for 'hello there, little love', however, I used Google Translate so I can't be certain just how accurate it is. If you know Japanese, please tell me if it's correct or if it means something completely else._


	20. Chapter 20

**TMNT 2012**

 **Space-time**

 _Sorry for the long wait! Lots of things going on in life right now, and I've barely had any time to write at all, which might be proven by the fact that the chapter got a lot shorter than I first wanted, and maybe a little too fast in the storytelling. Anyway, hope you enjoy it! Also, I've managed to create a design for teenage/adult Raelle_ _I'll upload it on my Deviantart account – my name there is_ **xxMelinaEugeniaxx** _– so that you can see it if you want._

* * *

"Boou-wieee! Iiieee-oouiiiee! Blurgh-burh-lurg! Iiiiahahahaaaaa-ouiie!" Raph…. _errrm_ … _says?_

He's trying his best to make his little daughter laugh, going to quite the length to make it happen. Splinter told them all, right at breakfast, that the sound of a baby laughing is one of the few sounds that makes you feel completely happy – and after that they have all tried their best to see if any of them can make her laugh, but so far, all they've gotten is skeptical chuckles from Raelle. Like, _real skeptical_. Donnie took her to his lab and introduced her to all the non-dangerous tools and even showed her how bubbles are made – _but no luck there_. Leonardo tried his best entertaining her by introducing Space Heroes – the funniest episode, of course – to see if he could get a little laughter out of her – _but nope_. Mikey tried playing with all of his action figures, making voices and roleplaying with all of them for her, but again – _no luck there_. So now, daddy Raphael is trying one of the simplest things – something Splinter told him worked on them all for a time. Funny faces with funny noises.

Raelle is looking up at him with big green eyes – still very skeptical if this is worth laughing at. She's laying on a blanket on the floor, and now daddy is making funny faces with funny noises to her as he tries to combine that with some pushups as she's laying right by his head on the floor. As he lowers himself closer to her he makes the funny noise and when he pushes himself up from her he prepares the new funny face. However, the only thing he manages to pull off is some extra training to get rid of the extra weight from his pregnancy, and to make himself dizzy. He stops the pushups and stands on his knees so that he won't fall on her. Shaking his head to make the dizziness go away and placing his hand on his face to support his head and pulling a very tired sigh as he does. A weak chuckle catches his attention and he looks down at Raelle. It's almost too real to be true for him, but there he can see a smile on her face.

"She's smiling!" He gasps and turns to call on the others. "She's smiling!"

She soon finds herself surrounded, laying on her back on the floor, with no ability to get out of there. Fortunately, none of the green faces that are staring at her wants to harm her. But she doesn't know that, she's just a baby. She looks at them all and her smile fades away as she grows skeptical once again.

"And… there it goes." Donnie says.

"Aw, man!" Leo sighs.

"C'mon, Raelle." Daddy Raph tries to encourage her as he tickles her belly. "Please, just a small one? You're so cute when you smile!"

She doesn't smile, but she does however grab her father's finger as it tickles her and tries to pull it up to her mouth so that she can practice sucking and biting. Pretending to be trying to get out of her grip, Raph is surprised just how much strength she's got in her tiny little fists already. For a baby at two weeks, that's impressive! If she keeps this up she's gonna end up with even stronger fists than her dear daddy, _and that's a scary thought!_

"C'mon guys." Mikey says and leans closer to Raelle. "She doesn't have to smile to be cute. She's already the cutest turtle in town." He reaches falsetto when he speaks baby language to her and boops her nose as he does. "Who's got the cutest little nose in the world? You do! _Yoouuu dooo!_ " _(Thank you Strorks – the movie – you've been a real lifesaver for me. Lol.)_

She looks at Mikey with big green eyes when he boops her nose and suddenly she lets out a loud and happy shriek as she grabs his finger – completely forgetting about daddy's finger. All four turtles stare down at her with big eyes. They sure didn't expect that sound, but it's the closest they've gotten to a real baby laughter, so they'll take it. Mikey can't help but letting out a more controlled shriek himself, shaking his head as he does and by doing so he also makes his short bandanna wave in the air. As soon as Raelle spots that she lets go of Mikey's finger and starts reaching out to the orange bandanna on his head. She's not sad that she can't get to it, she's just trying to tell the four turtles what she's trying to reach from here, kicking her legs all around her as she does while making some hardworking gasps. Mikey soon understands what she wants and removes his bandanna to hold it in front of her. The closer it gets the more she reaches for it and the more she kicks with her legs.

"Wow." Leo says. "She really wants that."

"Of course she does." Mikey says. "She already knows how awesome orange is!"

"Erm… Mikey? I don't want to destroy your enthusiasm, but I don't think she'll look good in orange." Leo says.

"What? Of course she will! Look!" Mikey places his bandanna carefully on Raelle's face, letting it fall so that she can see through its eyeholes. "See? Perfect!"

"Meeh…" Donnie begins. "It doesn't match with her green eyes. I think purple will be better."

They all watch him as he takes off his bandanna. He carefully removes Mikey's bandanna from Raelle's face and gives it back to him before he places his own bandanna onto Raelle's face just like Mikey did. She stares at them all with a very skeptical glare. Donnie is the only one who seems to be happy with her new bandanna, but soon Leo does the same thing as he did. He removes Donnie's bandanna and replaces it with his own so that they'll be able to see what she looks like in blue.

"Much better!" He says with a big and proud smile.

"Nah…" The rest of them says.

"Okay, fine. Then what do you think, Raph?"

"I think she should wear the same color as the person who created her."

"I don't think that's very clear." Mikey says.

"Oh?" Donnie says. "Why not?"

"Well, the Kraang has more than one color so which one are you referring to?"

"I'm talking about _my_ color! _Red!_ " Raph growls.

"Oh… yeah, that makes much more sense!"

He reaches out and smacks his head hard and fast, just like in the old days before his fatherhood. Mikey lets out a small yelp as Raph hits him and pets his head where he hit him. They glare angry at each other until a small giggle that comes from below catches all their attention. Raelle stops giggling when they all turn to stare down at her once more, and her smile fades away just like before.

"Did she just… giggle?" Leo asks.

"My sons." Splinter's voice says behind them. "What are you doing?"

They all look up at their father. He's standing in the background, not too far away, and observes them in this… moment. He seems to be wondering what they're all doing, even if he knows that babies are quite the attraction in every household – no matter how old they get. This seems to be one of those moments when the "older" in the household tries their best to bond with the new arrived member.

"Oh, hi sensei!" They all say.

"We're just trying to make Raelle laugh." Leo says with a smile.

"And trying to decide which color her mask should be in!" Mikey cheers.

"Oh? And what have you decided?" Splinter asks.

"Nothing so far!"

"I see." He says as he pulls his beard. "Well, did you try to let her decide for herself which color she wants?"

"…no?" Mikey's smile fades away and turns into a confused face. "How do we do that?"

"We could try to show her all our masks and then see which she likes the most." Donnie says.

They lean closer to her as they all holds their masks above her, holding it in one end and letting it drop down to her, letting a small distance remain between her and the masks so that she can see them. Her eyes fly around, looks at all four colored bandannas that's floating in the air above her. She stares at the purple on and reaches for it before she spots the orange one again and tries to reach it. Mikey smiles with a proud smile until she starts reaching for Leo's blue bandanna, making him smile with a big proud smile instead. She reaches for all the three different colors for a little while, until she spots the red and munched bandanna that she knows. Her eyes follow it from the bottom and up to the mighty hand that's holding it with two fingers, and soon she spots the big green eyes that's looking down at her, the eyes she knows. A smile spreads through his face when she starts reaching for him instead of his bandanna and they all give out a sweet chuckle when Raph reaches out to pick her up and she lets out another happy shriek as his big hands comes to get her. He carefully puts one hand under her head and then under her body – like sensei showed him – and carefully picks her up from the floor and bring her closer to his plastron, right under his lightning crack. Once she's back in his arms she starts reaching for his bandanna that he still holds in the hand he used to support her head. With a smile, he hands it to her and she chews on it.

"I think she reached a decision." Leo says with a smile.

"What?" Mikey says disappointed. "But we can't let her have the same color as her dad!"

"Why not?"

"Because that's just silly! She should have her own color!"

"Well, what if we give her a pink bandanna?"

"We can't do that!"

"Why not?" Leo feels how his frustration is starting to show.

"Because it's a _girl's_ color!"

They all look at him, trying to determine whether he's saying that with the term for girly girl girls that play with Barbie and likes My Little Pony _(Not that there's anything wrong with either of those things! It's just that they are, after all,_ _ **teenage guys**_ _, and anything that they "know" about little girls is all of the commercials they see through the TV, where every little girl appears to be dressed as a princess, and not to mention_ _ **thinks**_ _she's a princess – you know, those silly commercials?)_ or if he actually started to question Raelle's gender. He soon feels the stares he's receiving from everyone around him and looks back at all of them with a questioning glare.

"What?" He asks. "I know that she's a girl, but we can't let her get down that terrible purple and pink sparkling road with lots of fluffy stuff!"

"Hey!" Donnie protests. "What's wrong with purple?"

"Oh, come on D. Purple is _so_ almost a girl's color."

"That is _so_ not true!"

"Actually, I think I'm with Mikey on this one." Raph says.

"You are?!" Leo asks, staring at his brother with big eyes.

"Sure I am. I ain't gonna raise my kid to become some Barbie fan! It would help though if Donnie didn't carry his bandanna around her."

"Hey!"

"My sons." Splinter stops the conversation before it turns into a fight. "I do believe that this conversation is able to wait till after your training. To the dojo."

"Hai sensei!" They all say and gets up from the floor.

Splinter remains where he's standing and watches his sons walking up to the dojo. Well, at least three of them are. He turns around to see Raphael walking down to his bedroom, probably to tuck Raelle in for the moment - babies do need to sleep much more often than teenagers or adults. He carefully carries her in his arms, just like Splinter showed him. He's just about to open the door to their bedroom when Splinter grabs his shoulder – not hard, but enough to make him stop in his tracks.

"Perhaps you would like to let her join us in the dojo?" He says.

"What? Is it dangerous for her to be by herself? Have I done it wrong for all this time?!"

"No, my son. There is no reason to panic."

"Then why-?"

"I do not believe she is tired enough to go to sleep yet. And she might get bored waiting for you to complete the training."

"So… I have your permission to bring her into the dojo?"

"You do, my son."

"Oh… well… okay!"

Raph shines like the sun when he walks up to the dojo with Raelle in his arms. Splinter can hear how he talks to her to prepare her that he's the best fighter on this team. A smile spreads across Splinter's face. Of course, this is not the only reason why he advised Raph to bring little Raelle into the dojo. They're still struggling with finding something that will make the little turtle laugh, but when Splinter heard that small giggle right as Raph smacked Mikey's head, he kind of figured what might pull the trigger on her. _Just like Miwa…_

"Ermm… Raph?" Leo starts when he sees his brother walking into the dojo, still carrying his daughter. "Are you sure that is a good idea? I mean, weapons tend to fly around from time to time in here."

"You really think I'm going to risk that to happen when she's in here?" Raph asks back. "Besides, it's Splinter's idea that I bring her in here."

"It is?!"

"It is." Splinter says.

He walks into the dojo and walks straight up to Raphael. Raelle stares at the big rat that comes closer and closer to her and her father, but she doesn't cry or anything. She's brave like that. Just like her daddy is. Splinter pets her cheek gently before looking at Raphael.

"I will look over Raelle." He says as he carefully takes Raelle from Raphael. "In the meantime, you will train."

"Hai sensei!" They all say and gets in position.

Raelle looks all around herself, inspects the brand-new environment that she's in, the big rat that's holding her as she sits in his lap with his hands holding on to her body. Her eyes flies all across the dojo as she keeps searching for new things to see, new things to discover. Splinter holds her tight as he feels how she tries to free herself from him to go and explore. When she realizes that she can't free herself she starts to whimper – not much, it's over quite soon – and it doesn't take five seconds before Raphael is right in front of her, checking up on her, making sure that she's okay.

"Raphael." Splinter says and sends him back to the training – but not before Raph manages to give her a small kiss.

With her attention now stuck on her daddy, Raelle refuses to let him out of her sight. The whimper is over however, but she's still very keen to follow him with her gaze. She loses him once or twice, but she soon finds him right in front of her again as she whimpers. Splinter keeps on sending Raphael back to the training as he keeps coming back to her. He's not like that when she's sleeping in their bedroom – but that might be because she's sleeping and not whimpering. She soon calms down and learns to deal with not being as close to her daddy as she would like to be, and the calmer she gets, the calmer her father gets. She puts her hand in her mouth and starts sucking on it, instead of just her thumb. Splinter can't help but smile at the sight of that. Soon a comment from Mikey draws his attention back to the four turtles in training. Mikey laughs and Raph looks a little angrier than what would be tolerated now that there's a baby in the dojo, but there's no time to react or correct that. Soon Raph reaches Mikey and gives him a big smack on the head – bigger than the one before. Mikey grunts in pain and pets the area that Raph hit.

"Mikey!" Raph growls. "What did I say about doing crazy tricks when Raelle is in the dojo!"

Mikey looks at his brother and is just about to answer when a loud and sudden high-pitched laughter echoes through the dojo. Everyone – included Splinter – freezes as they hear the sound and they all soon gather around Raelle who's still in laughing-mode.

"She laughed!" Donnie smiles!

"D'aaaaaw!" Mikey spaces out.

"But… what made her laugh?" Leo asks.

Raph looks at Raelle who's staring at him with a big smile and then he turns to look at Splinter. He doesn't say anything to his son, but Raph is pretty sure what he's trying to tell him. Staring at Mikey and raising his fist to him, he double checks with Raelle that he's doing the right thing, and then he smacks him. Mikey lets out a small "ouch!" and soon the dojo is filled with Raelle's laughter once more. They all stare at Raph, who's smile is bigger than ever, and then turn back to Raelle, who's laughing for the first time in her life.

" _That's_ what made her laugh?!" Leo asks.

"She's a _maniac_ … just like her _dad_." Donnie says.

"D'aaw! I'm part of the entertainment!" Mikey smiles.

"Indeed, you are!" Raph says and smacks him once more.

Raelle laughs harder than she did before, with a big and wide-open mouth that allows them all to see her teeth less jaws. Once the chock of her sense of humor is over, they all sit on the floor and pretend to hit each other and makes some "ouch" sounds to make her keep laughing. And that she does – until she grows tired and yawns loudly, letting daddy know that she's tired and wants to go to sleep.

"Good night, Raelle!" Leo says, tickling her little feet.

"See you in a few hours." Donnie smiles.

"Sweet dreams!" Mikey waves.

Raph smiles at his brother's behavior and reaches for her in Splinter's arms. He gets up on his feet with her close to his chest. She yawns once more before he walks out of the dojo and heads to their bedroom. He looks down on her from time to time, trying to see just how close to sleep she is. She's almost completely knocked out when they make it to their bedroom. Raph opens the door and walks towards the crib, leaning over it and puts her gently down in it. She makes a few noises when she feels the currently cool blanket, so Raph stays for a little while, petting her belly, until the crib is warm enough for her to fall asleep. Her eyes close slowly and soon she's breathing slowly as well. He watches her for a few more moments before he places the other blanket over her so that she'll keep the little heat that she's worked up.

"Night, lill' kunoichi." He whispers and kisses her cheek carefully. "Sweet dreams."

He walks out form his bedroom and closes the door carefully – yet not complete, so that they can hear if she starts crying. Then he walks back to the dojo to continue the training. Splinter remains where he's sitting and observes his sons in action. They've come a long way since they started their first training lesson – ever – and he can't help but wonder what a strong warrior Raelle might become. Since she comes from Raphael she has a good chance and good potential to become a fine kunoichi – if she can manage the temper that she might inherit.

The training continues just like usual. Splinter makes sure no one is crossing the lines or playing dirty. So far, so good, as they say. But that's about to change. _(Cause I'm an evil writer who wants evil things to happen to this wonderful family and beautiful baby! MUAHAHA! …k, I'm done…)_ He observes each one of his sons, following their movements and tries to see what moves they're about to do next. Then, as he takes a deep breath to clear his mind, he senses it. His eyes open wide and searches for any kind of danger that might be lurking in the shadows… but there's nothing there. _But there is!_ He can sense it… he can feel it… so where? He gets up on his feet and starts walking out from the dojo to see if there's something in the living room. But from what he can see from here, there's nothing there.

"Sensei?" Leo's voice suddenly brings him back. "Where are you going?"

They all stop in their tracks when they hear Leo's sentence. Is sensei going somewhere? Splinter sees how all his four students turns towards him, staring at him, wondering why he's leaving and where he's going. Feeling the need to tell them about his worries, he still decides not to as to not cause any panic.

"Do not fear, my sons." He begins. "I'm simply going to check if there's enough ingredients to prepare Raelle's dinner."

"…oh…" Leo says – not convinced at the very least.

"Do not stop your training for this, my sons. I will be back in short time."

He then turns around and walks out from the dojo, down the stairs to the living room. Leo follows him for as long as he can until he gets out of his sight. There's something going on, isn't it? But they should still do as he said – if there are any enemies nearby they need to act for them, to make them believe that no one is suspicious. Giving a small hand signal to his brothers, they're all in for the acting and keeps on the training whilst keeping an eye open. A deep worry spreads through Raphael. What if there really is something dangerous in the lair with them? What if it can smell Raelle and finds her alone in the room and eats her? _What if it eats her?!_ The mother/father instincts are too strong to fight and he soon falls to the floor in the dojo, breathing heavily.

"Raph!" Leo yells and stops the training.

"Hey Raph! Are you okay?!" Donnie asks as he tries to see what might be wrong with him.

Raph tries to answer but is only able to crawl on the floor till he gets back on his feet and rushes out from the dojo. His brothers stare at him as he makes his way through the living room to his bedroom, hurrying as fast as he can. He opens the door fast and when he sees Splinter sitting right by Raelle, watching her as she sleeps, he feels how his heart drops back to ordinary rhythm. He falls to his knees and Splinter turns to look at him.

"Rahael!" He says and hurries to help him back on his feet. "Do not worry for Raelle. I will tend to her and keep her safe."

"So, there is something here?!" Raph asks.

"Yes, but so far, I haven't been able to see it, only feel it."

"Then, what are we supposed to do?!"

"Keep looking. Maybe there's something in Donatello's lab that can help us see what our eyes can't."

"We're on it!" Mikey's voice echoes in the living room.

Splinter sends Raphael after his brothers, who aren't wasting any time but hurries to Donnie's lab and helps him search for anything he asks them to search for – anything that might be helpful in this matter. They search every corner they can find, every single drawer that they can open without force. Donnie finds a lot of different inventions that he's made over the years, but none of them seem to show them anything useful that could help them understand what's going on. They keep searching for a little while until they run out of time.

The ground starts shaking in the lab and the turtles stop their search. Trying their best to keep their balance, they all do the mistake to focus their attention to the floor – waiting to see if it will collapse under them – when they should be paying attention to the ceiling – to see if it's going to collapse on them. As big cracks develop in the ceiling, small to big pieces of the ceiling starts falling, sending the turtles a few hints to look up. A strong light makes it hard for them to see what's happening, but it's soon over as the entire ceiling on the lab collapses.

"Look out!" Leo calls out before he's hit by a big ceiling piece.

"Leo!" Donnie yells.

He tries to reach him in the same time as he tries to avoid the collapsing ceiling – that is, if there's anything left of it. Leo gasps painfully as Donnie grabs his shoulder. He got hit but he's not dying – just in a lot of pain.

"What the heck happened?!" Mikey cries out, but there's no time to answer him as the reason for all of this shows himself.

From the broken ceiling enters one of the most terrifying creatures they could've imagined – something that seems to be part goat, part freak, part snake tail, part demon, part freak and so on. Whatever it is, if comes from the big hole where the ceiling used to be and lands on the ground before them. They all look at it, trying to determine what it is and what they can do to defeat it. As it rises from the ground and stands up straight before them, they get back up on their feet and draws their weapons. It opens its eyes – its red, red eyes – and looks at them all as they gather together as a group to help Leo and hide the fact that he just got injured. It's not severe, but given what just walked in it might become. After seeing all of the four turtles standing together, ready to fight him, he starts laughing.

"And there you are, at last!" He says with a big smile and starts waving with the… weird stick with a demon hand holding onto an hourglass in one end. "I was really starting to question if this thing was working as it should."

"What the heck are you?!" Raph growls at the terrifying intruder.

For a moment, the demon looks at them with confusion written on his face, but it soon disappears as if he just realized something about them and starts laughing at them.

"Oh, that's right." He says. "You don't know who I am yet."

"Obviously." Leo says. "So how about some introducing?"

"Why, of course, _Leonardo_." The demon says and sees how he's spreading chills down each of their spines. "I am Savanti Romero. _The Time Emperor_."

His smile grows bigger and bigger as he sees the changes in facial expression on each one of the turtles. They sure have no idea what he's talking about, but that doesn't mean they don't understand the mighty powers that he contains.

"I feel as if I should be thanking you, for the things you've done for me." He says as his eyes grow darker. "But I think it will be more entertaining to destroy you, before you're able to stop me."

They all watch as the demon, Romero, grabs his time stick with a strong grip and aims it at them just as it starts glowing in a most unwelcoming way. Donnie stares at the stick/device. He has no idea what it is, but he can tell that it's made of some sweet technology that's obviously not from around here. Or even from this world. He soon wakes up from his thoughts when he suddenly remembers that the device he's inspecting is indeed about to end all of them, right here and now.

"Goodbye, Turtle Warriors!" Romero smiles at them and is just about to fire it when…

"I don't think so!" A girl yells.

Romero casts a glance to his right to see just who that is, even though he knows that voice quite well by now. He doesn't have time to react as she charges at him and punches him as hard as she can in the face so that he drops the glowing stick on the ground. Still standing in the background of all of this, the turtles stare at the mysterious girl that just kicked some demon butt in their home. She hurries to pick up the time stick and fires it at the demon. Mikey feels how a strong gasp escapes him when the time sick fires a glowing shot at the demon, sending him flying through the lab and into a door made out of light that appears behind him out of nowhere. As soon as Romero flies through the door, it closes and leaves them in silence.

"Wow!" The girl says, still standing with her back towards them. "That was so close! But, no worries! I sent him millions of years into the past!"

She then turns around to see if any of them got hurt during this… incident, and she smiles when she sees that they didn't get hurt – except from Leo's minor injuries from the falling ceiling. The other three turtles are still in tip top shape and didn't get as much as a scratch. She did really good, if you ask her. However, if you ask Mikey, he'll probably tell you that she's the prettiest girl he's ever seen. _(I really like MikeyxRenet, so I'm going to let that appear in the story. Hope you don't mind!)_

"Oh, man!" She says. "This is so _cold!_ "

"I beg your pardon?" Donnie asks for all of the turtles.

"It's you! It's really you!" She says while she starts fangirling. "The Turtle Warriors!"

"Turtle Warriors?!" Leo asks. "What are you even talking about? How do you even know about us?"

"Oh, right! Almost forgot the reason why I came."

"Defeating the giant demon wasn't why you came?" Raph asks.

"Well, no… I mean yes… but… wait. Let me explain it all from the beginning."

"Please do."

"Right!" *Ahem!* "You see, I'm from the future, and you guys are like so famous! Like, meeting you is way bigger than meeting Billy the Kid or even the…"

"Wait, wait! You're trying to tell us that you're from the future and that we're famous in the future?" Donnie asks.

"Yea! You guys like saved the world so many times! You changed history so that in my present time, mutants are just as normal as regular humans."

"So, not only are we famous for saving the world… but we actually made it to history books and made the world a better place for mutants?" Donnie asks.

"Yeah!"

"…" Donnie feels how he's unable to say something at first, till he suddenly bursts. "HIGH THREE!" He yells as he raises his hand and makes a high three with Leo and Raph, while Mikey makes his way over to talk to the girl.

"Hi there!" He says as he makes his way over to her. "I'm Mikey. Angelo is my middle name. What's your name? Wait! Let me guess! Amazing Amazonia girl? Gorgeous Georgette? Beautiful Betty?"

The girl follows him with her gaze as he walks around her making – what he believes is – cute and/or attractive faces for her as he calls her by the best kind of names he can come up with at the moment, not bothering to care what his brother's will say about his behavior. It's not like he's ever said that he's never going to fall for a girl – not in this story, at least.

"Actually, no." The girl says with a smile at Mikey's… romantic tries and raises the time stick up in the air as she continues talking to them. "I'm Renet. A Time-Master!"

She keeps her position like that, standing proud with the time stick in her left hand as it's raised to the sky, for a moment with a big smile on her lips, until she loses her balance and almost falls to the floor she's already standing on. They watch her as she tries her best to get her balance back before she drops the time stick on the floor, and she actually manages to.

"Alright!" She says once she's stable once more. "Assistant Time-Master in training. But I'm like _so_ close to get there!"

"I don't care!" Raph snaps and forces his way up to her. "Why are you here?!"

"Oh, right." She says with an unsure smile. "Well, you see, the bad guy that was here not too long ago wants to become the Master of all time and reality, like some sort of Time Emperor, or something. His name is Savanti Romero, a wanted freak criminal from the future. Last night he broke into the Temple of Time, where we, the Time Protectors make sure that everything stays the way it's supposed to be, but anyway… he broke in with this in his hands." She stops talking for a moment and lifts the time stick closer to them.

"What is it?" Donnie asks.

"It's the most powerful tool any of the Time Protectors know of. The Time Scepter. It's so powerful that it can't just only change time, but it can bend reality itself. If someone like Savanti gets it in his hands, he will be able to shape the entire history of mankind and force it to bow down to him."

"That sounds bad." Leo says.

"Oh, it is!"

"But… why would he come here?" Donnie asks. "If he had the most powerful tool in his hands, why come here to us?"

"Well… that might be because of the legend of how you defeated him once he got the Time Scepter."

"Legend? What legend?"

"Well, a legend in the future of how you defeated him. It says that he set out to rule the world, universe, everything, but that the mighty Turtle Warriors rose from the previous times to defeat him and save the world they never lived to see – the future."

"Woooahh!" Mikey gasps in the background.

"He must've learned about the legend and decided to deal with you before you came after him, like the legend said."

"So… what now?" Leo asks. "He's been defeated, right? Doesn't that mean the mess is clear?"

"Only he wasn't defeated by _us_." Donnie ads and looks at Renet. "He was defeated by _you_."

Renet is about to answer him that it's probably still fine, given that he's defeated and all – not that it should matter by who – when suddenly the Time Scepter starts glowing and blinking whilst making noise. She reads the signs it gives her and soon she understands what's going on.

"Oh… no…" She says, getting all of the turtles' attention. "This is not good!"

"Wh-what is it?" Leo asks.

"It's Savanti. He's altering with the time line. He's trying to destroy us in the present by making changes in the past."

"He can do that?!" Donnie asks.

"Oh yeah! That happens a lot!" She observes the Time Scepter and can just hear Lord Simultaneous yelling at her about dusting for the rest of the year for this. "Maybe I should've let you defeat him like the legend said… will you guys please help me?"

Leo is just about to answer her question when the Time Scepter decides to answer the question for him, as it suddenly fires out a time-window that sucks them all out of the lab – leaving it completely empty. Renet covers her ears as the turtles screams from the sudden and quite scary experience of being brought from one time to another. They fly all around her and seems to be screaming louder and louder the faster they travel through the time-window – and she feels how her head starts to ache from her pressing her hands to hard into her ears to keep the screams out. She tries to focus on exactly where they're heading, but she soon finds out as the time-window spits them out into their destination and lets them all fall a 20 meter long drop to the ground.

They all mutter in pain and ache as they slowly make their way back to their feet, at least all of them still feeling dizzy from the ride. Renet stands up first, but that's only because she's used to the rough times that the time-windows can force you through. Still, she's been through worse. But the Turtle Warriors haven't – which might be because Savanti went to the time when they were still young and not known about. Still, he did manage to pick the time when Raelle was born, and that's always something you can brag about when you get back home. She stands up and inspects the area they're in, a forest in the middle of a long gone land – might be England in the early 10th century. She keeps checking the surroundings as the turtles slowly manage to get up on their feet and rediscovers their balance.

"Well…" Donnie says, still feeling very dizzy from the ride. "…that was… fun!"

"Are you _serious_ right now?!" Raph groans at him.

"No…"

Renet smiles at the small dialogue between the two hotheaded brothers. It sound silly – even to herself – but it did just dawn on her that they are just that – brothers. Yes, she knows that it should be clear and all that given how many times she's been reading about them in the history books, but still. Reading history books about these brother's is not the same thing as in seeing them with your own eyes – see the real way they behaved and acted towards each other as brothers. It just suddenly became more… more real. A smile spreads on her face, but she's soon dragged out form her thoughts as Leonardo places his hand on her shoulder and makes sure that he gets eye contact with her.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yes! I'm fine!" She smiles at him. "You'd be surprised just how often you end up falling at the end of a time-window. You get used to it after a while."

"I-eh… can imagine… but… now what? We've arrived, by the looks of it."

"Yeah, about that…" Donnie steps in. "… where are we? This is not how I pictured what the earth would look like millions of years ago."

"Well…" Renet says, checking the Time Scepter once more just for safety. "...that's because this isn't earth millions of years in the past. This is England during the 11th century. Early century."

"Why the shell are we in this time?" Raph asks/yells. "Didn't we set out to follow Savanti to where you sent him?"

"Yes… it's just that, I might not have sent him to the time I thought of."

"Are you trying to tell us that you failed or that the time stick isn't working?"

"The Time Scepter works. Never doubt that, or better yet, never _question_ that. It brought us to the time where I send him, and if it tells us that this is when he is then it is."

"Meaning you failed."

"Oh, c'mon dude!" Mikey steps in between Raph and Renet, trying to force his hotheaded brother away from her. "Chill'ax. Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone knows how to return to the moment before they made the mistake so that they can undo it. Right?" He looks at Renet with a big smile and hopes that she will nod at what he just said – or just anything to prove him right.

"Well…" She starts a little unsure on how to explain this. "…that's not quite how it works."

"Listen lady!" Raph snaps. "I don't care how it works. Just bring me back home to my daughter!"

"I will! I promise. As soon as we've defeated Savanti, I will bring you all back home."

"Oh, little Renet Tilley." Savanti's dark voice echoes all around them. "Don't you know that you shouldn't make a promise if you aren't able to keep it?"

They all turn around trying to find him in the old woods that they're in, but soon they learn that it's very hard to find something in the woods – especially when it knows just how to hide there. It's just green trees everywhere! How can he even hide here?! They keep spinning around searching for him, and soon they find him – right in the middle of them. He laughs loud as he strikes for Renet and throws her away as he grabs the Time Scepter away from her. His smile and laughter grows deeper and darker as he realizes that he once again has the Time Scepter in his hands and can do whatever he wants.

"So, this is how it ends for you, Turtle Warriors!" He roars and raises the Time Scepter up high in the air.

All they can do right now is watch as the Time Scepter charges up for destroying them, and listening to Savanti's laughter and the rhythmic thundering sounds that keeps coming closer and closer. _Wait… what about that?_ Savanti suddenly stops laughing once he hears it to. It keeps getting closer and from the sounds of it, it's not alone, whatever it is. He turns around to see what it might be, but tires of if just as fast, so he decides to make things a little more interesting than just destroying the turtles there and then. Once again he charges the Time Scepter, but this time it's not for brutally destroying them instantly. Instead, he fires a giant bubble at them, and then he smiles at them.

"You will forever be stuck in the eclipse of time!" He laughs and fades away – for the moment. _(You guys know the drill, right? I can skip forward a little, right? Make things a little easier for me and a little more interesting for you. Also, I know that he doesn't say 'eclipse of time' in the original series, but I like the sound of this better. Please don't hate me for this little change.)_

Renet watches as the shattered pieces of the time-bubble flies all around them as the holographic version of Savanti fades away from her punch. Feeling good about herself at the moment, she allows herself to mentally pat her own shoulder. She soon hears Donatello saying something behind her and turns around to ask him to repeat that, but all she manages to see is him suddenly throwing his arms around her and hug her while yelling out ' _That-Is-Awesome!_ ' She's a little surprised over his reaction and doesn't quite know how to respond to it, so… she merely pats his arm a little in return, hoping that will be enough to make him put her down again. It is. However, she doesn't see the way Mikey snaps at Donnie right after that.

They're just about to continue on their quest to find Savanti and get the Time Scepter back from him, when they're suddenly reminded of the weird rhythmic sounds once more – that is indeed getting much, much closer. They all hear it at the same time and they all react at it at the same time, which means they see it at the same time. Four horses with their knights riding on them are slowly making their way over to them. Renet looks at the parade that's coming for them and suddenly her minds goes to a place where she sees just how these knights will react on the turtles' present and looks… she thinks about it a little too late though, so she doesn't manage to tell the turtles about the coming situation, not that they shouldn't have thought about it themselves to begin with, but still. The knights get there and when they see the turtles they react just like Renet foretold in her head. But what she didn't foretell was the way they were going to react on her present and looks.

"Fear not, young maiden! For we will save thee from the four demons that has captured thou!"

A loud and very not approving sigh escapes Renet as the knight in the front raises his sword and speaks the word of an ancient love-struck- man… _(Saaay… I can skip forward a little again, right?)_ The knights lay in a pile on the ground after the turtles kicked their butts just there and then. As the knights doesn't seem to be recovering from the turtles fight, the turtles and the young maiden Renet decides to make things a little easier for themselves and heads to the knights horses. It's much easier to get elsewhere on the back of a horse – well… for most of them… Raph is still a little unsure how to tame one. Especially the one he's on. Anyways… Mikey on the other hand has something else to worry about, now that he's officially sharing a horse with Renet.

"So…" He starts, hoping to get her attention. "…now we're riding a horse together. Is this our first date?"

A small giggle escapes Renet and she can't help but smile back at him for what he just said. Still, he has to know that they can't be together – not yet at least. _Who knows what the future will bring?_

"Mikey, don't you think you're a little too old for me?" She says to him and sees how his smile turns into a confused face. "I mean. I haven't even been born yet." She can't really help not to giggle at the little whimper he lets out after what she just said. _He really is the cute one_.

Nighttime falls upon them and they soon finds themselves lost in the dark, but the horses still keep on going, so there's still a chance that they're going to end up somewhere they need to be in the end after all. And since the horses don't spread the team out across the country, they're going to let them keep going in the direction they're heading. It takes a long time before the horses stop going anywhere anymore, and soon they all understand why.

"Whoah…" Renet says when she sees the big cemetery that they just arrived at.

Savanti smiles as he observes the Time Scepter in his hand and wonders just what great event he should do as his first one in the history of time. Kill all human leaders and remain in power forever? Go back to the future and destroy Simultaneous to prevent him from going after him and correct everything? Or should he destroy the Turtle Warriors before the legend comes true? So much to do, so much to choose between and so little time there is. Well, not anymore of course.

He eventually reaches a decision and uses the Time Scepter to see just how the Turtle Warriors are doing in the time-bubble. To his surprise he finds them not in the bubble but at a cemetery. So, the little Renet, the little Time-mistress in training actually managed to destroy his trap and let herself and the Turtle Warriors escape? _Impressive, Renet_. However, they shouldn't have gone to a cemetery. It's like they're asking him to do something for them. _Well, since they're asking, he might as well fulfill their desire._

"Wait!" Leo calls out when he hears it. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Raph asks but is soon silenced by the loud rumble that is soon followed by the ground shaking under their feet.

Big parts of the ground fall down due to the shaking, but nothing else seems to happen after that since the shaking stops right at that moment. It's silent and calm once more – but it's not over yet. As the turtles slowly walks to the holes in the ground, skeletons starts rising from the graves and climb out from the holes. With loud screams the turtles jump a few steps back and brace themselves for the skeletons to attack. They all draws their weapons – even Renet – and prepares themselves for battle with the undead, without knowing that they're being observed by Savanti. However, Renet is pretty sure that he is indeed the one behind this scenario – who else would it be? As they keep fighting for their lives, parts of skeletons flying across the cemetery and coming back to "life" to resume fighting, Renet observes the cemetery whenever she sees the chance to. There is something odd about this. Savanti wouldn't bother to deal with them like this if they weren't a problem for him anymore. Does that mean that the horses went the right way? They literally brought them closer to him – so close, in fact, that he had to deal with them. But… where is he?

The skeletons won't stop coming back to fight them and soon they'll all be out of steam and will be defeated by the undead. Suddenly Renet understands. They keep coming back to fight them... because that's just how close they are to reach him. They are so close that he's ready to use up so much of the Time Scepter's power and energy to keep attacking them on and on and on… which means that they are also so close that they should be able to tell where he is, given where the attacks are coming from – _Below_.

"Brace yourselves!" She calls out to the turtles –all of them looking at her with confusion in their eyes.

She feels their glares burning in her neck as she jumps as high up in the air as she can to get momentum with her – but she don't have time to bother with all of them looking at her like she's crazy or something. She has to do this so that they can understand why she's doing this. Logic, eh? Making a fist as hard as she can, she punches the ground as soon as she lands on it again, and with her clock weapons activated, the ground surely gets the punch it deserves. It shakes brutally and soon the turtles find themselves falling once more as the ground caves in underneath them. They all yell out in surprise for a moment, but fortunately, the fall is very short. It's a very hard and sudden landing for all of them, but it's not enough to actually kill any of them, so… that's always good.

Leo struggles to get back on his feet – his knee still causes some minor pain and sometimes it just tickles, and not in a good way. Once he's standing he's not entirely surprised that he can't see the sun anymore. All he can see is the dark cave that they just landed in, but as his eyes soon adapts to the darkness, he soon spots something deeper down in the cave, hidden in the dark – something that looks like a castle of some kind. That's got to be where Savanti is! So that's what Renet had in mind when she went on punching the ground like some crazy girl… He turns around to check on the team, makes sure that they're all okay and that they see what he sees. They do, and without the need for words they agree to put an end to this all – _it's time to go home!_

Sneaking closer and closer to the castle, now is the perfect time for Renet to actually see the turtles in full serious action! Fighting the fan-girl-screams inside her mind, she tries her best not to be in the way for any of the Turtle Warriors. _Just let them do their thing. They've got this!_ She feels her heartbeat in her chest pounding like it's trying to escape from her or something. Savanti is in here, and he knows that they are in here as well – there's no way he didn't notice the ceiling of the cave collapse if he noticed their presence above the cave. He knows, for sure. The question is just – where is he right now? Their steps echoes along the dark hallway they managed to sneak into, but for how long will they be able to sneak around like this before he finds them and destroys them? _As it turns out, not long._ His laughter echoes all around them before the ground fades away underneath them – once again – and they land in a great room with a big throne and lots, lots of giant cogwheels that's there for some reason..? Anyway… Savanti is standing right in front of them and holds the Time Scepter in his hands as he laughs greatly at their soon to come destruction.

"Alright team!" Leo calls out. "Let's end this!"

They all cry out a war cry and then immediately strike to attack the demonic creature that is known as Savanti Romero. Renet watches as the Turtle Warriors flies across the room from… from… everywhere! They're here, they're there, and they're right on top of Savanti placing as many strikes as they can before they're all the way over there again. They just keep coming – like failing isn't an option. There they go again..! One more time from everywhere, they all attack him, testing his limits, searching for the breaking point, searching for the weak spot. Renet observes it all as she thinks about it. Savanti doesn't have a weak spot… as long as he has the Time Scepter in his hands he can do whatever he wants to – reversing time whenever they hit him, changing his angle just enough to make them miss him the moment they were meant to take him out. But if he loses the Time Scepter, he won't be able to do that… the idea is planted in her head and there's no way it's going to leave her alone at a moment like this. She has to do something to get the Time Scepter away from Savanti. That's the only way for the Turtle Warriors to defeat him once and for all. _Alright! Let's do this!_

She may not be a ninja, but she does manage to get closer and closer to Savanti without him knowing about it. It might be because the Turtle Warriors are literally everywhere at once in this battle – which means they might just be seeing what she's doing and understanding why she's doing it and therefore makes sure that Savanti doesn't know. Or maybe they're all too busy fighting each other that she can go wherever she wants to without anyone noticing. It's one of the two. Either way – here she goes! With a sudden yet silent jump she flies from the platform she's on to the one where Savanti's throne is – and where he is – and lands just as silent, she hopes. She's right behind him, trying to stay out of the way of the Turtle Warriors as she's also trying to get as close as she needs to be. Then a sudden thought hits her – if Savanti can reverse time whenever something doesn't go according to his plan, which he's obviously done so many times already, then who's to say she hasn't tried this once before? What if he's aware of what she's doing and that she is behind him, but he's pretending to fool her? It is a risk. A risk she needs to take – but now that she's aware of it, she might just be able to turn the table to her own advantage. Just because she might have gone for the Time Scepter that one time, it doesn't mean she's going for it this time.

Savanti almost jumps out of surprise when Renet jumps at him from behind – but only almost. He turns towards her with a smile – telling her that her suspicions where correct, but the sudden change in his facial expression when he realizes she's not going for the Time Scepter this time makes her even more glad that her suspicions where correct. He didn't see this one coming. Her fist may be tiny compared to his, but it is just as painful as he is ugly. The loud grunt that escapes him when Renet punches him tells the Turtle Warriors that this is their moment. They're all flying towards him and beats him up, which gives Renet more than enough time to go for the Time Scepter and send Savanti away for good this time. Checking more than four times, she's certain that this time, it will work.

"See you around, demon!" She yells as she fires the time-window at him.

He struggles as much as he can, but no one is strong enough to stop a time-window from doing the thing it's been designed for. It's literally like you're trying to fight the laws of physics – you just can't. His roar of anger and revenge echoes through the castle and causes the ground to start shaking.

"Ermm…!" Donnie starts. "Someone else gets the feeling this isn't safe anymore?!"

"It's time to leave!" Renet says and opens a time-window for them to go through.

It's not as long or terrifying as it was last time, because this time-window is not that far ahead or behind in time – it's just a small window to bring them out of the castle before it collapses. They're still in the time where they defeated Savanti, because setting a time elsewhere would take too long, and this time, they didn't have the time for that. They soon land right outside the cemetery they fought the undead people before. Fortunately, they're dead this time since there's no one here to bring them back to the undead state, which means it's completely fine and safe for them to be here.

"Wait…!" Raph says when he realizes that they're still there. "What the heck?! Why are we still here?!"

"Well, I had to get us out of there as fast as possible…" Renet says. "…and setting a specific time, part from the one you're already in, takes not much longer, but in this case, too long."

"Oh…" Is all he says.

"But don't worry! Now that we're safe and with Savanti getting the punishment he deserves, we're good to go!"

"Say…" Donnie says. "…where did you send him?"

"Oh, he's in the future. The only place he won't be able to defeat us, since we will be ready for his arrival."

"Wow…"

"Now, come on! Let's get back home before Raelle forgets who I am!" Raph snaps at the casual talking.

"Don't worry Raph!" Leo says. "She won't forget you."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I may not be an expert in time-traveling things, but isn't it possible for us to return to the moment right after the one we left?" He asks the question aimed towards Renet.

"Of course! That's the whole beauty in time-traveling: you can be gone for years but still return to make others believe you've only been gone for a few seconds."

"You see?" Leo says with a smile towards Raph and pats his shoulder gently, trying to make his hotheaded brother feel a little better.

As they gather around Renet, observing her as she sets the time and the coordinates for where they're going, Mikey starts feeling a little uneasy with Renet leaving them just like that. He takes a few steps closer to her, ignoring the stares he gets from his brothers, and tries to get eye contact with her. Once he does, he goes a little shy and scratches his head a little before knowing what to say. But as he looks at her again, seeing the way she smiles at him, the shyness fades away and the turns back into the Mikey that he is – still a little shy.

"Say, Renet…?" He starts. "Do… do you think we could… like, go sometime… just you and me?"

"Aww…" Renet says at the cuteness that's in front of her. "Mikey, I'd love that!" She says and places a small kiss on his cheek.

As Mikey is giggling from the kiss on his cheek, Renet smiles at him and starts to feel a little bad for leaving the turtles' just like that – especially after Mikey's little question. She fires the time-window once the Time Scepter is ready, but just before she tells them it's safe to go through, she grabs Mikey's hand and smiles at him.

"Okay!" She says. "Let's go home!"

They're all really excited to finally be on their way home – and Raph is especially happy to soon be reunited with his daughter. The journey through the time-window is longer than they remembered – but as long as the Assistant Time-Master in training isn't freaking out, then there's probably no reason for them to worry either. But when the Assistant Time-Master in training does start to wonder and slightly freak out, then there's really a reason for them to also freak out.

Renet stares at the Time Scepter as if it's the first time she's ever seen something like it and has absolutely no idea what it is or what it does or how one makes sure it does whatever you want it to do. What is going on? Something is clearly wrong! It can't be Savanti – he's already been dealt with… so what…? She gasps loudly in surprise when the Time Scepter suddenly starts spitting lightings all around it, opening time-windows all over the place. Something is clearly not right here! She can hear the turtles shouting questions at her, but she can't answer them. She has no idea what is going on right now! It's almost like it doesn't want them to go back just yet – _but why?!_ Then she suddenly sees something that makes her blood freeze.

"Hold on!" She shouts to the turtles, trying to warn them about the harsh ride they're about to face.

The Time Scepter fires time-windows all around them, but none of them actually drags them towards it – except from one of them. A dark time-window that's growing bigger and bigger the closer and closer it gets. And from what you can tell from Renet's facial expression, that's bad news. They're all yelling in horror as they're being dragged into the dark window and brought across time and space, just waiting to see where they're really going – just what awaits them on the other side of this window?! The window gets filled with something Renet can only describe as black smoke or really, really dark clouds. Soon the feeling of fresh air surrounds them and the feeling of falling towards the ground embraces them – but there's no ground for them to land on… is there? The smoke fades away and reveals where it comes from – giant chimneys of giant buildings that's obviously not doing something good for the environment. The ground is a really far way down and they're still falling towards it, meaning they're actually falling towards their death… which is bad…

Just as she sees the ground coming closer and closer, Renet tightens her grip around the Time Scepter and fires at the ground below them – hoping that this will save their lives. It does. As soon as they enter the bubble she fired, time slows down around them and they manage to land on the ground in such a slow-motion that they're not even injured, like, at all.

"Well…" Renet says once the bubble fades away and they're safe on the ground. "That was way to close!"

"Agreed…" Leo says and takes a good look around. "But… where are we?"

They all gather together and walk up to a "hill" to see just where they are. What they see, however, makes them loose all faith that they have indeed returned home… A dead city… darkness all over the place… more than half of the buildings have been destroyed and the ones who are still intact are pumping out that black smoke that covers up the sky, hiding the sun. Whatever this place is… it cannot be meant to be… can it? They all walk down the "hill" and starts walking towards the remains of the city, walking slowly so that Renet can follow and check on the Time Scepter at the same time. Something is terribly wrong about this place – yet still so very familiar. The closer they get to the city, the more and more they start to realize that they can't be alone here. Echoing sounds of rhythmic footsteps reaches them not to far away from the city. Are those sounds created by machines or are they made by humans walking in sync? _(Does anyone know about the game 'Inside'? That's sort of the way this world is going to look like.)_ They continue on their way towards the city, but this time much, much more carefully. Renet does everything she can to analyze the information the Time Scepter is giving her so that they can know where they are and how to get out of here. But it takes time…

They're inside the city, and from what all of them can tell, the ground has started to shake a little in sync to the footsteps. The longer they go the more the ground starts shaking. If it's not a machine that's causing all of this, then there has to be a lot of people around here – somewhere. Suddenly a helicopter comes out of nowhere from behind the rooftops, forcing the Turtle Warriors and Renet to go into a hiding. The helicopter circulates around the area they were just in, even turning on lights to see if there's any trace of them left. It soon goes away and lets the team keep going forward. There's a huge influence that they might have gotten involved in some sort of world war, and therefore they have to be very careful to not get caught! They continues on and soon they manage to find out just what is making the rhythmic sounds and what's making the ground shake in the same rhythm.

People… millions of people… just as many as there might be in New York, actually. All of them marching along the city's so far widest and longest road, causing a freezing fear spread through their bodies. As they get closer they also manage to see that the marching people are being guarded by soldiers – big soldiers, with just as big weapons – and terrifying machines that checks on each one of the people as they passes by. The machines checks the people with a light, and if it detects any kind of misbehavior, or anything out of the ordinary, it send out a wire that attaches itself at the persons neck and drags it away from the line, not showing any form of mercy to the person. From what they can tell… the person dies as soon as the wire gets a hold of it.

"Dude…" Mikey says. "It's like some sort of horror game!"

"Calm down, Mikey." Leo says and puts his hand on his shoulder. "As long as they don't know we're here, they won't be able to harm us."

Renet looks at the brothers, looks at the Turtle Warriors. How in the world could they have ended up here? Why is the Time Scepter refusing to let the Turtle Warriors return to their home? Why? Then… suddenly she sees it… But this cannot be!

"Oh no…" She whispers, dragging all of the attention towards her. "That… this…"

"What's the matter, princess?" Raph asks.

"The Time Scepter won't bring us back home… because we… we _are_ home."

"What?!" They all cry out – forgetting the importance of being silent in a situation like this.

"This is New York… in the future… or at least… the future it would be without you to protect it."

"Soo… this isn't really… real?" Leo asks.

"No… but in the same time it is. Since you never returned to your present time, the world had to face the future without you to protect it… and now, this is the result."

"But then why don't we just return to our present time to make sure this never happens?"

"Because the Time Scepter won't allow us…"

"Why not?"

"I don't know! But there has to be something here that you guys have to learn about so that you can truly protect the city the way it needs to be protected in, in order to avoid this future or… or… or something!" She almost snaps at Leo, but manages to take a breath and cool herself down to talk to him with the respect all leaders deserve. "We can't go back to the present before we learn what we need to know. And whatever that is, it's in this time, this future. We have to find it so that we can go home and fix this."

They all look at her, seeing the seriousness in her eyes – this is not a drill. They have to face this future in order to go home to where they belong. As Raph stands up and looks at the marching people, sees the future that happened when they never returned home… he can't help but to wonder where sensei is in this mess… or Casey, or April or… or… _oh god_ … Sensing the horror in his brother, Donnie hurries to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. It's obvious to all of them who he's thinking about right now.

But just as they're all getting ready to comfort Raph, the helicopter returns, and this time, it spots them. Knowing that there's no time for them to run away and hide this time, the team stands their ground to face the danger that is coming for them right here and right now. Before the helicopter manages to land, people are jumping out from it and lands on the ground before the team… and just as if some cruel power had read Raphael's mind… the figure that's standing right before them isn't just female…

"Well, well, well." She says as she sees the team of four mutant turtles and a human girl. "The Shredder will surely be interested in this, let me tell you."

As the female soldier steps closer and closer, and the light from the helicopter reveals more than just her silhouette… the sudden fear and gasps of horror spreads through the team, and ends with Raphael simply staring at the female mutant turtle in front of him.

 _Raelle…?_

* * *

 _So, there we go! Chapter 20 – a brand new part of the story. What do you think about it so far? Do you like it? Please tell me what you think and I'll try to respond to you._

 _Speaking of that… I've noticed that I'm unable to answer some of the reviews that some of you have written, and I looked up some information about it here on my account, and I didn't really discover anything out of the ordinary, but I did find some info that said something about letting people without an account here on Fanfiction to leave reviews – which I think is the reason to why I can't answer them. SO, I've decided to answer all of the reviews that I can't send a PM to at the end of every chapter in the story – just so you will know that I'm not ignoring you. I've been almost desperate to answer some of your reviews, and it made me really sad and mad that I couldn't answer them. I just want you to know that if it happened that I didn't answer your review, it's not because I don't want to answer you, but because I can't. Please forgive me for that._

 _So, for starter, I'm just going to say something for a few people that I haven't answered (if you don't want to read this, you don't have to)_

 **Monty G, raelle, Alakai, Guest, Christina** and **luna** , _thanks so much for your reviews! You made me really happy about this story and I'm sorry for not answering you up until now. Hope that you still enjoy the story!_

 **Christina** _ **,**_ _btw. I feel really flattered that you want me to write a story for you, and I feel awful for having to say no to your offer. I'm sorry, but I just don't have the time needed to write a second story for the moment, even if it wouldn't be for someone else or just me. Also, I'm sorry for saying this, but I don't really want to write about what you suggested for me. I'm still really flattered that you asked me to write for you, but I just don't want to write stories like that. My conscience puts the foot down for that. I hope you understand and that you will find someone else to write the story for you!_


	21. Chapter 21

**TMNT 2012**

" **Welcome… turtles"**

 _Chapter 21 is finally done! Hope you guys will enjoy!_

 _It will be a lot shorter than what I normally want to make a chapter, but that's because it's more like some sort of "introduction", so, that's why I couldn't make it much longer than this. I'll make the next chapter longer, definitely. But anyway. Enjoy!_

* * *

The female turtle is walking in front of them, leading the way to wherever they're going. Her body is the body of a soldier who's been training everyday for years – probably starting when she was merely 2 years old, or so. She's slimmer than them, but the scale of her muscles compared to her body size proves that she could easily take all of them at the same time without any problems. They're not big like the sort of muscles a bodybuilder gets, no, no. These kind of muscles are long and stronger than iron.

During their walk, Raphael can't do much more than observing the female turtle from behind, searching for hints, clues, evidence that she is indeed who he believes – Raelle. She's got his skin color, his eye color and his attitude. That itself is enough to prove his beliefs are correct, but there's a certain feeling in his guts that won't rest for a moment. Something's not right – _well, obviously. They did end up in a future that has been completely destroyed and where everyone has turned into mindless slaves._ But that's not what's on his mind right now. Something's not right with _her_. Something's wrong with the black bandanna that covers most of her body, the sharp shoulder blades, her weapon… or weapons – _I don't know. Are two giant sais/katana swords that are chained together considered as one weapon or two weapons?_ – the very long red mask that covers her face… _and the fact that she's wearing a skull as some sort of helmet_ …

He's soon ripped out of his mind and forced to see what's going on around him when she suddenly stops walking and turns around, facing all of them. Her eyes glows in the darkness and spreads a fear in them that's mixed with confusion and frustration. What's going on? What is she planning? Is she really going to hurt them? Should they do something to stop her? As they all slowly wake up from their thoughts, they see how she's standing in a big elevator, and that she's probably waiting for them to enter it.

"C'mon!" A soldier from behind yells and punches them all from behind. "Get moving! We don't have all day!"

They walk into the elevator with aching heartbeats echoing in their heads, but there's no time to complain about that. As soon as they're all inside – more or less – in the elevator, Raelle raises her hand and pulls a lever to her right and the elevator starts moving with an instant. The sudden feeling of going down catches all of them off guard and they fall to the floor in the elevator, making all the soldiers laugh at them. Raph is the first one to get back up on his feet, ready to beat the crap out of them, but he doesn't. The soldier he's focused on is the one standing right next to Raelle and his attention is soon moved away from the soldier and to her. Not a sound. Not a word. She doesn't laugh nor does she make a face at him. She just stands there with the same look on her face, watching him observing her. For some reason, whenever Raph looks at her, all of his anger just… fades away. It's like she's some sort of calming pill for him, a treatment that is so strong he simply needs to look at in order to heal.

The elevator starts shrieking as the powerful feeling of it slowing down grabs all of them and forces them down once more. No one laughs this time though. She makes sure of that. Once the elevator has stopped completely the doors open once again, ready to let all of the passengers out. The soldiers standing behind the turtles are the first to exit, since they're closest to the doors and after them are Renet and the turtles… all of them, except Raph and Raelle. Still focusing on his daughter, he has yet to realize that it's time to get out. Only when she decides to speak a word to him does he understand.

"Move." She says with an angry yet controlled voice that echoes in the elevator. And just as she's said that one word, one of the soldiers comes from behind and grabs his shoulder to pull him out from the elevator and clear her path.

Raph complains loudly to the way he's being treated, but as soon as Raelle walks out from the elevator and into his line of sight, he calms down. Just like that, the anger is once again gone. It's not that it's something that he only notice, like something in his mind calms down whilst the rest of his body is still in full action, no. Even his brothers and Renet sees the sudden changes in him. They all look at him as he goes from pissed off and ready to rip someone's face off to being calm and controlled, not moving a muscle or saying a word. Raelle doesn't care though. She sees no point in letting that strange behavior get to her and to investigate in it. How is she supposed to know that's not just a "trick" he's trying to pull? If that's the case, then that's one silly trick he's trying to pull. Seriously, it's not even good.

The group of soldiers and captured turtle company once again follows Raelle wherever she goes. Somehow, this all seems very familiar to the turtles – not so much to Renet, since time does change a lot of things. The way the walls, floor and even the ceiling looks gives them all the chills, the very, very familiar chills that no one of them wants to experience any time soon. But they must, for there is nothing that they can do in this situation. They're outnumbered so badly that even Raphael would've said that it would be very unwise to try and take them down one by one. There are soldiers and guards wherever they look. And they all wear the same kind of uniform that also is very familiar to the turtles. Black uniforms with masks in the same color and with two red spots where the eyes are meant to be. It cannot be a coincident that the uniforms and the way the soldiers/guards act reminds them of something terrible… or rather – _someone_.

The hallway keeps on going for ages, which gives Donatello just enough time to check the surroundings and compare it to other places he can remember. As he goes through his minds database, the hallway slowly goes towards a great door that reminds of the gate to Savanti's castle, only a little more modern. But just as they're heading closer and closer to the door, Donatello's mind finally finds the one place that this nightmare reminds him of, and once he's see it, he's chocked that he didn't see it sooner. There's no time for him to tell any of his brother's for they have just arrived at the door and it opens before them – ready to let them in to their worst nightmares, and to confirm Donatello's fear.

"Master." Raelle says as soon as they are inside the big room the door was hiding from them. "I believe you will find this interesting."

The only difference between this throne-room and the one that's from their time, is that this one is under ground, hidden from the outside world, which makes it far more obvious to them that no one knows that they're here… and given the dark silhouette that's standing right by the very familiar throne at the other side of the room... no one will know about the torture they are soon to go through.

He slowly turns around as he hears his granddaughter's voice echo in the room. Time has not been kind to him, letting him feel the pain of aging. But he has been blessed with his daughter and with her adoptive daughter, who are both ready to fight for the revenge that he's seeking. Though it seemed for a long time as if the revenge would never come, the present Raelle has brought him today lights up the hope in him once more. For the moment he turns around to see her, to see what she has brought him, he sees the faces of the enemies he's been seeking for all this time… and the thirst for revenge rises inside of him, and he smiles.

His laugher echoes in the room, spreading fear and horror amongst the still young turtles and their new friend. His eyes glows in the dark as he looks at them all with the hatred he has not felt in a long time.

"Welcome…" He says. "…turtles."

And in that moment, all of the turtles know just what happened to the world, and they gasp out the name of the destruction in fear.

" _Shredder?!"_


	22. Chapter 22

**TMNT 2012**

 **Together**

There's so much that needs to be explained… so much that needs to be corrected. The cold atmosphere hangs heavy in the room and is proud of it. It has never been so hard to breathe as it is right now. It has never been so hard to think clearly… never.

The throne is located just like the old one in their time… in the back of the room, high up with stairs leading up to its mighty place. But that's not all. The throne is new and in a new lair underground, but the face of the person sitting in the throne is still the same... _older_ , but still the same.

Raelle is standing still, staring at the four mutant turtles and the strange human girl, watching them and waiting for them to react. It's bound to happen sooner or later. A reaction of some kind is going to take place any minute, and she has to be ready for it. If she's not, then all of her training has been for nothing. And so, she stands still… waiting for the reaction to come as she's preparing herself for anything. Their eyes are still ever so focused on her master, her leader… _her grandfather_. It's making her uncomfortable, but she can't risk turning around or even talking to her master. She has to keep waiting for them to react. And then the reaction comes… but not from the turtles.

"Welcome…" She hears her master say behind her. "…turtles."

A gasp of horror echoes from the turtles and the human girl – as if they've met her grandfather before and presumed him to be dead. A laugher echoes from the Shredder as he hears the horrifying gasps coming from his young enemies. But then he grows silent, as if he just realized something, which he did. He knows the truth about his granddaughter, Raelle, _and so do_ _they_. He never thought he would have to fear for that truth to come out…. especially not after their sudden disappearance for all these years. They just vanished one day and left their master and two friends to take care of themselves… and they left Raelle too. He never through he would have to bother worrying about the Hamato-clan right after they destroyed Hamato Yoshi and managed to get to Raelle. Luckily, he's got a very good head start – _Raelle's trust_.

"Raelle." He says and watches as she turns around to look at him. "Do you know who you've brought to me? Do you know who these… _creatures_ are?"

"No…" She says, a little confused at what he's saying, but she doesn't make a face from it. "…I don't, master."

"I see." He says.

He lets the silence take over and rule the room for a while as he thinks about what the best next move would be. But just as he starts developing the beginning of what could be the perfect solution, her father, Raphael, forces his way over to his daughter. He's not nearly as agile as Shredder remembers, but he is still strong and is able to get quite close to her, even with the guards fighting him back from her. As she turns around to face the maniac, a small knot starts building itself up in Shredder's guts as he starts to worry and fear that she might in fact start to remember just by looking at him.

"Raelle!" Raph cries out, as if he was dying, trying his best to reach her. "Raelle! It's me! It's daddy!"

His brothers stares at him in defeat, Renet as well. It's not going to work… no matter how much they really want it to, it just won't. It's written all over her face. The way she looks at him, the way she listens to him calling himself her "daddy", the way she raises an eyebrow at him calling her his "baby girl". It's not going to work… it just… won't.

Shredder kills a sigh of relief. He did worry about it for a moment, but now it's obvious. She doesn't remember him at all, does she? The way she looks at him, the way she hasn't moved a single muscle at any of his crazy comments about him being her father… she doesn't remember them.

"Master Shredder!" The familiar voice of Fishface echoes in the room.

The shout is echoing all around in the room but you can still tell that it's coming from behind, so that's where everyone turns in order to see Fishface storming in through the door. He stops right away once he sees the turtles and the girl – freezes in his path and would've turned pale if he had human skin. It's almost as if he's looking at ghosts – and the ghosts are looking at him, wondering what's happened to him. I mean, yeah, they know that they're in the future, and given that Raelle seems to be about their age, if not a little older, they've obviously been gone for one and a half decade – _but still! What happened to him during those years?!_

Raelle stares at the fish mutant, waiting for him to say what he was supposed to say so that the Shredder can finish his sentence. After a moment of waiting she groans from her impatience and puts her hands on her hips as she tries to snap him back to reality.

"Hey!" She calls out. "Xever!" Snapping her fingers as an attempt to get his attention, all she manages to do is get the attention from the other turtles.

She sighs, but that's enough to bring him back to them. He looks at the turtles in shock and horror, but as soon as he hears that sigh he comes back to reality. Shaking his head a little, he looks around and sees Raelle staring at him with her typical impatient stare and then he looks up at the Shredder and remembers just what he was about to say.

"Oh, erm… sorry." He says. "Ahem, master Shredder. Your daughter Karai and her friend Shinigami have returned. They're requesting Raelle's assistance."

"Karai is here?!" Leo shouts out, making everyone turn towards him, Raelle included.

For a moment he makes eye contact with her, by accident, but he still takes the moment to try and read his niece's thoughts as he does, try to see what she might be thinking about right now. There is a strong hint of curiosity in her eyes, but also a strong hand of carefulness. Whatever she's thinking about them, she's interested, but also very aware of the risks.

Shredder looks down at the turtles and at his adoptive granddaughter. He sees how Leonardo is making eye contact with her and tries to read her to see how to reach her in the future. But the young warrior is not aware of the power Shredder has and that he sees everything they are doing right now. With confident in himself and in his granddaughter, he stands up from the throne and calls out to get her attention. The arrival of his daughter might just have bought him valuable time to prepare a plan for this sudden surprise.

"Raelle." He says with a calm but deep voice, and he sees how she turns around to face him. "Go. See what it is your mother needs you for and make sure to bring her here after. We have some unpleasant business to deal with here."

Not so sure what to make out of that, she simply nods at his order and leaves the four turtles and human girl right where she brought them and exits the room. Raph is unable to speak, just like the rest of them, and he just follows her with his stare, just like the rest of them, trying his best to analyze and understand what the Shredder just said to her – Just Like The Rest Of Them.

"Did you just call Karai her mother?" Donatello asks, not loud, but still not in his head silent.

"Yes." Shredder answers, spreading chills down Donnie's body, which makes him smile behind that mask of his. "I did."

" _Alright Shredder…!_ " Raph growls from his deepest point. "You and I are gonna talk! Starting with _why the heck_ _my daughter is working_ _for you!_ "

" _Your_ daughter?" Shredder laughs. "The way you simply abandoned her in your lair is hardly what a father would do to his child. Even your friends proved to be better parents as they tried to save her from my soldiers."

" _How dare you…!_ " Raph growls and tries to force his way forward but is being held back by his brothers. "She's _my_ daughter! _My_ flesh and blood!"

"A true father does something to save his flesh and blood. But you… you where nowhere… If it hadn't been for us, she would've perished."

"Why you… _YOU…!_ "

"Raph! Calm down!" Leo says and steps in the way for his brother, trying his best to get eye contact with him. "He's just trying to get to you! Don't let him get that pleasure!"

Shredder smiles as he sees Leonardo's attempts to reach his brother and calm him down. He never thought that they would end up in this situation – he even thought that the turtles where gone forever when they stormed their lair and saw that they weren't there to fight with their master and friends. A soft laughter escapes him when he thinks about how wrong he must've been when he sees what's in front of him. The pleasure of revenge never seems to leave him. And he enjoys it.

"Karai found her in a room, all alone, and brought her to our lair and raised her as her own daughter." He continues, and smiles when he sees Raphael's anger grow from every word he says. "She trained her… _I_ trained her, to become the strongest warrior the Foot-clan has ever seen. We've taught her everything she needs to know about the enemies, _her_ enemies, and learn to love the thirst, the thrill, of revenge." Raph's growl echoes in the room as he keeps trying to get closer to him. "And now, you will make the perfect ending for her. The perfect end of the enemies… and it's going to be done, by _her hands_."

His anger grows greater than it has ever done before. With strong arms and a determined mind, he forces his way past his brothers and charges at Shredder. He leaps up the stairs, preparing for one of his most unmerciful attacks as he flies across the air up to his greatest enemy. _Is this what Master Splinter felt like when he realized that Karai was his daughter? When he understood what the Shredder had done?_

His brothers calls after him, yells at him to stop and that it's a really bad idea what he's planning to do. But he doesn't care. He doesn't care… Renet sees the desperate expressions in the three turtles' faces as they try to reach their brother and stop him from committing the greatest mistake of his life. _Well… here goes everything…!_ She's still surprised that they let her keep the Time Scepter when they captured them… but she's not going to complain about it. Reaching for the Time Scepter and aiming it at the very angry turtle, she fires a Freezing beam at him that stops him right in the air, right in front of the Shredder's face. A moment of silence and amazement echoes through the room as they all see how Raphael simply hangs still in the air with a cold blue beam holding him in his last position… and then they all follow the beams string to see where it's coming from, and everyone's eyes lands on the girl that stands by the turtles, holding the Time Scepter in her hands. They watch as she pulls the Scepter closer to her body which makes the blue beam pull Raphael closer as well… closer to them and further away from the Shredder. Nobody says anything…

Raphael feels how his body is suddenly able to move once more. He falls to the ground as Renet deactivates the Freeze Beam and lets him go. She drops him, not far from the floor, but he still fall a small distance and lands on all four. Once on the ground, a chilling feeling spreads through his body as he understands what he was doing… what he was ready to do… he was ready to end it all there and then… he would've made it impossible for himself and for his brother's to reach Raelle any further than they already have. He wouldn't have given her a reason to believe them… he would've given her a reason to hate them more than Karai already does.

He slowly gets up from the floor. Silence is still controlling everyone's minds, leaving the room in a very terrifying shape – everyone is waiting for the opponent to make the first lethal move that can or will end it all. But nothing happens. As he stands up and keeps his head low, Renet feels how the cold fear grows inside of her as she prepares herself for being yelled at – that is, if she's lucky. But again, nothing happens. She sees how he slowly turns around and stares at her with a new pair of eyes she has never seen in him before, and is pretty sure no one has seen in him before. They're not angry, not devastated, not… deadly… instead, they understand. They understand what she did… why she did it. And he nods at her. One simple nod as if to make it all clearer that he understands why she did it and that he appreciates it.

Shredder stares at the girl. What she just did is something he's never seen before. What she did with that stick… or device. What kind of technology is that? What kind of technology does she have access to that is so strong it can bend and form time as _you_ please? How does one control it?

A burning feeling in her guts tell her that there's something much more dangerous to think about other than what Raphael is thinking about her right now… she lifts her eyes and sees the dark glowing eyes of the Shredder stare right at her. Now she understands. She saved Raphael from making the biggest mistake of his life – by doing the worst mistake in her own life. Showing the Great Dangerous Shredder the power of the Time Scepter… _yeah, that is a really bad thing to do_. She meets his eyes and makes sure to look determined as he reads her face. She's determined that she will never let the Time Scepter end up in his hands. She would rather give it to Savanti Romero – _and that says a lot._

"Young girl." His cold voice echoes through the room as he starts walking down towards her. "May I have a close look on that?"

"No!" She says back at him without any hesitation.

He doesn't say anything in return to her, but he doesn't stop walking either. The turtles understand that walk – he wants that Time Scepter, even if he's not allowed to. Renet stands still as he keeps coming closer, ready to fire when needed – she's just waiting for the right moment. Now that he's almost right in front of her, he stops and stares at her. His eyes glow from underneath the helmet as he stares at her, reading her face, reading her body language. She's determined not to let him have it, isn't she?

"Young girl." He says again, reaching after it. "Give it to me!"

"I won't!" She yells back at him and fires a time-window at him like she fired one at Savanti before when she met the turtles.

Everyone in the room witnesses as Shredder flies backwards through the room and in through a window in the timeline, leaving them all there without a leader to follow, without the greatest enemy to fight. The turtles stare at her – did she really defeat The Shredder there and then?! How?! But as she turns around towards the turtles, they start to realize that might not be the case.

"What happened?!" Leo asks.

"I sent him into the future." She says.

"You- what?!"

"Yes! But he's gonna come back in five minutes, so we have to go!"

She grabs Leo's hand as he's about to ask her yet another question and drags him away as she starts running for their lives, and soon the rest of the turtles are running after. As they're running through the Shredder's lair, they soon realize that they have no idea where they're going. Everything is so different! _Where's the exit?!_

"Why did you sent him only five minutes into the future?!" Donnie shouts once they hit a dead end.

" _I pressed the wrong button!_ " Renet yells in panic.

They stop the yelling once they hear the footsteps of the coming troops getting closer and closer to them. Renet immediately starts tempering with the Time Scepter, hoping she will be able to hit the right button this time. She doesn't want to move them from this time – because she can't, the Scepter won't let her – but she wants to move them through space so that she can bring the somewhere safe in this time. Once she's ready she aims at the turtles and drags them into the time-window, just as the troops arrive at their location. Stopping in fear to end like the Shredder did, the troops stand still and observe as Renet bends through the space as she pulls the turtles with her.

Screaming for their lives as they travel everywhere at once before they finally arrive at their final destination, the turtles fall from the sky like when they went after Savanti, and just like then Renet manages to catch them in the air before they land on the ground safely. They land on a rooftop of one of the buildings further away in the city, far away from the Shredder's lair, but still not out of his reach. It's safer here, but not safe enough – they need to get going.

"Let me get this straight…" Donnie says before they're even up on their feet again. "… you pressed the wrong button in a situation like that?"

"Well…" Renet starts. "…yeah. What else do you want me to say?" She stares at him as she gets up on her feet before him. "I panicked! I'm used to face bad guys like Savanti Romero, but the Shredder? There's a reason why he made it to the history books for his evilness. I mean, guys like Savanti Romero wouldn't exist if they hadn't learned about him and decided to follow in his example."

They look at her as she explains… well, as she explains. So, Shredder made it to the history books as well… And he convinced future bad guys to follow his example… weeeeelll, that's just great, isn't it?

Raph stares at her for a moment but doesn't say anything about what she just says. He remains silent as he walks off to the edge of the rooftop they're standing on and stares back at the big building in the middle of the city where she is… his daughter… Raelle. A sigh escapes him, but no one hears it because of the wind that's starting to build up. How is he supposed to fix all of this? There's no way he can do it all alone – well… he knows that he's not alone, but even with his brother's, there's very little they can do to fix all of this. Where are they even supposed to start?

A hand grabs Raph by his shoulder. As he turns around he sees Leo staring at him with a comforting smile as he stands in front of the rest of the team that's giving him the same look – they're all in this _together_ and they're gonna fix it _together_. Closing his eyes and softly lowering his head, Raph tires his best not to give up the hope he has left. He needs to keep it alive, for her sake. Swallowing the worry that's growing inside him, he turns back to stare at the building in the middle of the city, but this time his brothers are there, standing by his side and ready to be there for him, not matter what.

* * *

Raelle walks in to the throne room, sharing a little chit chat with her mother and Shinigami. But as they enter the room and sees the troops and soldiers all surrounding the Shredder on his throne, they stop they're chit chat and hurries up to him. The troops and soldiers back away from him as they notice his daughter and granddaughter making their way up towards him. Raelle stares at him as Karai falls on her knees holding his head in her hands, checking on him with her snake eyes – searching for hints and clues as to what might be wrong. His blood pressure is lower than usual, so she sends him off to the sickbay for a checkup and then demands to know what happened to him.

Raelle and Shinigami stands next to each other as they listen to the explanations each of the soldiers give them when they try to tell what happened when they were gone. Going over it all in her head, Raelle clearly remember telling her mother about the strange four turtles that suddenly appeared out of nowhere – and that she didn't quite believe her at first but agreed to go and meet this strange gang to see if she recognized them. And now… as she looks at her mother's facial expression change after hearing all of these explanations as to what happened, it's clear that she now understands who these four turtles are… but does she understand why they're here?

After hearing the different stories from most of the soldiers that witnessed it all, Karai turns towards her daughter and searches her face for hints and clues that might tell her if she… if she remembers her father after all this time and despite the age she was when they… does she?

"M-mother?" Raelle asks as she sees the terrified look in her mother's eyes. "I-is something wrong?"

"Raelle…" Karai says and walks up to her. "I need you to focus right now." She says as she stares her deep into her eyes. "Did they do anything? Did they do anything to you? Anything at all?"

"N-no mother, they didn't. Shredder sent me to bring you here before anything happened."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, I am. Or else I wouldn't be standing here."

A deep sigh escapes Karai as she is filled with relief. She pulls Raelle into a hug and pets the back of her head softly as she tries to keep the tears in.

"I…" She says. "I'm sorry. I just got so worried."

"Don't worry mother, I understand."

Karai lets go of her daughter and lets her hand rest underneath her cheek for a moment before letting it go. Turning towards her friend Shinigami, Karai shares a glare with her and a nod. A smile spreads through Shinigami's face and she heads over to Raelle, placing her arm around her shoulders as she talks to her with that smile.

"Say, little Rally." Her smile grows wider for every word she says. "Wanna hang out with mommy's bestie?"

A smile now begins to grow on Raelle's face as she nods to the proposal. Sharing a smile with her mother, Raelle follows Shinigami out from the throne room to go hang out – meaning go hunting some bad guys and make them regret they were born – while Karai stays back at the lair and takes care of their business while Shredder is healing up from whatever the turtles did to him.

* * *

 _I apologize for the long wait and that the chapter isn't as well prepared and made as I would like it to be. Life is just filled with surprises and I currently have very little time to do anything but work nowadays. However! I'm finally moving out from my parent's house (December 1) which means I will be able to write more than I can for the moment. It still may not be as much as I want to, because of work. Lot's of bad things are happening to the personel and I have to volunteer to work above my Schedule just so thing will be working out in the end for the Company - not me. Even if it means a little more cash in the pocket, it's starting to break me down. Both mentally and physically._

 _But anyway! I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Can't say when the next one will be uploaded - haven't even had time to plan what's to happen in it yet :P_


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